Pokecalypse
by Zokolov
Summary: Can humans and Pokémon ever live in harmony? Kris, a cynical and asocial trainer on the run from her past tries to find out. She has an unhealthy interest in Suicune, meets various crazy characters and runs across a national conspiracy...
1. The Girl And The Suicune

_**POKÈCALYPSE**_

**Chapter One: The Girl and the Suicune**_**  
>- <strong>__"It is your mind that creates this world" -_

_Plasma Grunts... attack dogs... after me... stupid eco-terrorists... I told them that I was not going to sign their petition!_

Kris was running somewhere in Unova, possibly along Route 3. She didn't know, and she had no time to ask anyone. Team Plasma Grunts in their light blue armor-like uniforms were after her. Running alongside the Plasma Grunts were three Herdier, all barking and growling at Kris. The dogs were getting closer and closer as Kris was quickly out of breath and was forced to slow down.

_I should really get out more…_

_Like millions before me, I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer when I was a kid. But to me, it was an obsession. I didn't care about _human _contacts. Who needs them? I wanted to befriend Pokémon and become the Champion of Johto and all that. I spent my childhood watching films and playing games about famous trainers... I even had their posters on my wall. The Champions, the Elite Four, the gym leaders, all of 'em._

_But the reality wasn't quite how I imagined._

Desperately, Kris changed her course while running, turning towards the forest to her left. Using the trees as her cover, Kris was able to hide from the Plasmas and the dogs. As soon as she made sure they couldn't see them, Kris jumped behind a rock and stopped to catch her breath.

But she could still hear the Herdier barking close by. The Plasma Grunts were relentless in their pursuit. Kris could hear the Plasma Grunts yelling orders to each other and their Pokémon.

"She's not far! Come on!"

Kris closed her eyes and started to breath heavily and rapidly. Her heart was pounding so fast that it was almost painful. What the hell did they want? How did she get into this mess?

"The dogs have your scent!" one of the Grunts yelled from a distance. "Come out now so we can resolve this peacefully!"

_Yeah, right… I've faced too many of you guys to actually believe that…_

"Stoutland, go!"

One of the Plasmas threw a Poké Ball in the air and Herdier's evolved form, Stoutland, appeared. Like Herdier, it was like a dog, only a hell of a lot bigger, more ferocious and with much thicker fur. Getting pounced by a Stoutland was a sure death sentence.

Kris grabbed the only Poké Ball on her waist. No turning back now. She could hear the Stoutland sniffing close by, rapidly approaching her.

_I can't fight… why can't Lyra be here? She knew her way around these situations… she would have a plan ready… I'm no good… I can't even run away…_

Stoutland started barking loudly. It was right behind the rock where Kris was hiding. It knew she was there.

"Good boy!" the Plasma Grunt yelled. "Get out now! We know you're in there! No one has to get hurt!"

_I disagree…_

Kris opened her Poké Ball.

The bright red flash and the loud noise startled the three Plasma Grunts and their Pokémon, but they were even more frightened when Kris' Pokémon, a eight-foot Feraligatr with long sharp claws and jaws powerful enough to snap any of the Plasma Grunts in half without much effort.

With the Feraligatr, nicknamed "Croc", on her side, Kris stood up as well, trying to think of something cool to say.

"So, you guys need me for something?" Kris asked casually.

_Okay, that sounded better in my head…_

"Tell your monster to stand down!" the leading Plasma Grunt, the Stoutland's trainer, ordered. "We have orders to take you alive!"

"You'll have to kill me first!" Kris said, trying to sound convincing.

"Uh… no," the Plasma Grunt said. "That would sorta defeat the purpose. Look, I'm just trying to do my job, 'kay? We have orders."

"Yeah," Kris said, "it would probably strain your brain if you tried to think for yourself for once. But sorry, I have to decline. Croc, Hydro Pump!"

"What?"

The Plasmas didn't even have time to react when Kris' Feraligatr fired a powerful stream of water at them. The pressure instantly knocked down the grunts, the two Herdier and the Stoutland. As they were helpless, Feraligatr charged towards them, slashing both the Pokémon and their trainers with its claws and pummeling them with its fists.

The Stoutland tried to get up on its feet, which Kris was quick to notice.

"Croc, Ice Beam!"

The Feraligatr was quick to obey, firing an icy-cold beam of energy towards the Stoutland. It froze solid just before it tried to leap towards the Feraligatr, leaving it helpless. Kris grabbed a fist-sized rock from the ground and threw it at the frozen Stoutland, shattering the dog into little pieces like a piñata.

"Chill out!" Kris remarked, giving her Feraligatr a high five. "Funny, though, I thought that was only possible in video games."

Next, Kris and her Feraligatr marched to the Stoutland's trainer, who was barely conscious after Croc's attack had struck him. Even though the Plasma Grunt was probably a foot taller than Kris, somehow Kris still felt powerful as she grabbed the grunt by his collar.

Feraligatr swung its arm, but Kris stopped it at the last minute.

"Hold it, Croc!" she said. "You can rip his face off later."

The Plasma Grunt started coughing, water coming out from his mouth. Kris shrugged unapologetically.

"Hey, you know what they say," she said, "stay home or a huge crocodile-thingy will try to drown you and eat your face. Wait, is that right?"

Croc shrugged.

"What do you want from me?" the Plasma Grunt asked, helpless and frightened by the Feraligatr's claws.

"Just a few questions," Kris said. "How can you guys still be in operation? I met Ghetsis a few months ago, he blew his brains out… something which I had no part in, by the way."

"Don't pretend to know anything about us," the Grunt said. "You have no idea how far the chain of command goes. There's leaders and sub-leaders and sub-leaders for the sub-leaders and-"

"_Who sent you_?" Kris shouted at the Plasma Grunt's face. "Look, tell me what I want to know or Croc will gladly castrate you. It hasn't eaten anything in a while."

"No! Wait!" the Plasma Grunt squealed, suddenly sounding more co-operative. "Look, I'll tell you anything, please, keep it away from me! We had orders to bring you alive, Kris. We got your name, location and description from Giovanni, I swear!"

Kris let go of the Plasma Grunt, dropping him to the wet ground. The mere mention of that name made Kris frightened, but she attempted to sound casual, yet threatening. Something which she was not very good at.

"Giovanni?" she asked while staring down at the Plasma Grunt in disbelief. "I thought he ran Team Rocket. What are you guys doing with him?"

"How should I know?" the Plasma Grunt groaned. "I just do what I'm told. Please, can I go now?"

"Sure," said Kris. "I'm sorry I killed your Stoutland, by the way. And tell your boss that if he wants me alive, he better come in person!"

"They're ten-a-penny anyways, I guess…" the grunt sighed as he slowly got up and walked to his unconscious comrades. "And yeah, I will, I'm not gonna argue with you or your… Pokémon", the Grunt added, looking up at Feraligatr's imposing face. The Feraligatr flashed its teeth.

"Come on, Croc," Kris said. "Let's keep moving."

**~o~O~o~**_  
><em>

_**Location: Wellspring Cave, Unova**_

It was dark inside, but Kris had a flashlight app installed into her Pokétch. It illuminated the otherwise pitch-black corner of the cave where Kris had been hiding for a week now. It was late November, 2099, but whatever day it was, Kris had long forgotten.

Kris was a 23-year old woman with frizzy, unkempt black hair. She had always been pale, small and thin, which hadn't exactly done very good for self-esteem, but having been forced to be on the run for weeks and live on whatever she could find had worsened her condition. Kris had always been neurotic, insecure and pessimistic but living on the edge had made her borderline paranoid, constantly flinching and snapping by the slightest noise. And while hygiene had never been a priority to her, wearing the same dirty clothes (jeans, a red top and a blue denim jacket) for weeks on end had become almost unbearable even by her standards.

As Kris sat on the shore of an underground lake, throwing scraps of food at her Feraligatr, she stared at the water. She was deep in her thoughts, but not too much, as she was quick to react to anything. She wondered what had happened in the outside world while she had been gone. Were the legendary Pokémon still out for revenge? Before leaving, Kris had heard reports about Kyurem sightings, but if those were true, there probably wouldn't be an Earth to stand on. Still… even though it was November, the climate was unusually warm. And Unova was supposed to have seasons! That, and Kris hadn't seen much people around. Nonetheless, she was convinced that _someone_was after her, and the little debacle with the Plasma Grunts proved it!

_Or did it? Maybe I imagined it all? Am I going insane? Damn it…_

Kris also thought about her friends… well, maybe not _friends_, to be exact, but they were close enough. The last Kris had seen Lyra, she and her Typhlosion were hired by the Committee to do some wetwork. And Shane and his Sandshrew… whatever became of them? It was horribly frustrating to just hide in a cave and wait for information, but it was not like Kris had ever been particularly active at… well, anything.

Suddenly, Kris flinched when her Feraligatr started growling. It stared into the darkness, to the other side of the underground lake.

"Croc?" Kris asked, keeping her Pokétch at the ready in case someone attacked. "What is it? Wait, you can't tell me anyways, so for-"

Kris flinched again. She heard splashing, coming from somewhere in the cave. It echoed all over the place, as if it was coming from everywhere. Something was moving in black lake. Maybe it was just a Basculin or a Poliwag? Or some fisherman's zombie coming to eat her brains? Or something else just as ordinary?

No. Something moved nearby, something big. Kris used her flashlight, but couldn't see far. The water looked almost greenish in the dim light. But no fish Pokémon were around.

Something moved again. Kris heard splashing, and saw something blue and shiny on the surface of the lake. She didn't need her flashlight, as the thing seemed to emit some kind of bright light by itself. Kris shuddered.

"Uh… Croc?" Kris whimpered. "It's not that I'm scared or anything but… hold me."

Feraligatr stepped in front of Kris, but even it seemed to shake all over. Whatever the blue thing in the lake was, it was fast. And it seemed to come even closer. Hiding behind her Feraligatr, Kris pointed he flashlight at the thing. It's like it was running _on_ the lake… but what couldn't be possible? Feraligatr prepared to fight the thing by snapping its jaws.

Then the blue creature leaped in front of Kris and Croc, and Kris was afraid no more. She recognized the beast: it was Suicune. An elegant, graceful legendary Pokémon, like a blue cheetah with white spots, a purple mane. It had two white tails, a thick, hexagonal chest on its forehead and visibly sharp claws. This wasn't the first time Kris had seen Suicune, but it was the first time the thing directly came into contact with it.

"Take it easy, Croc," Kris said, trying to calm down herself more than the Pokémon. "It's a friend. Uh… you are a friend… right?"

The Suicune nodded. Kris let out a relieved sigh. Somehow, just being around a legendary Pokémon made Kris feel more safe, more secure. She turned off her flashlight, as Suicune was more than bright enough to illuminate the cave.

"What do you want?" Kris asked. "Yeah, I know we have a failure to communicate here, but you gotta give me something. Hand… uh, _paw_signals, Morse code, whatever."

Suicune waved its head in Feraligatr's direction. Kris looked at her Pokémon and understood. She recalled the beast back into its Poké Ball without thinking twice. Even if she was now unprotected. The Suicune took a few steps towards Kris, but Kris wasn't afraid. She stepped forward and gently touched the Suicune's cheek.

"Wow…" she whispered. "I never understood why people obsessed with legendaries, especially you… no offense, of course… but looking at you now… wow."

Kris wasn't sure what else to say or do. She just kept her hand on the Suicune's face, trying to think. Did Suicune like being scratched behind the ear? Or did it even have ears? Freaky…

Suddenly, Suicune used the crest on its forehead to lift Kris on its back. "Hey!" Kris screamed, startled, as she suddenly found herself sitting on Suicune's back, trying not fall down.

"Holy crap, what happened to your head?" Kris yelled.

Then she realized she was sitting the wrong way, staring at the beast's rear. She turned around and grabbed the beast's neck tight, constantly fearing that the thing would throw her off its back. What did it want?

"Okay, I have never ridden a Pokémon or anything, and it's cool and all but… what are you doing?" Kris asked.

As a response, Suicune started walking out of the cave. Kris had lay low on the beast's back so she wouldn't hit her head on the cave's entrance. Apparently, it wanted to take her somewhere.

_Whatever_, she thought, _anywhere's better than here…_

"All right!" Kris said as soon as she and Suicune were out in broad daylight. "Show me what's happened these past few weeks, but… try not go too FAAAAAST!"

Kris had to grab Suicune's neck again as the beast started to run. Within seconds, Kris looked behind her and saw that the Wellspring Cave was just a dot in the distance.

But elsewhere, preparations for the war against Pokémon were beginning…

_To be continued..._

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes<em>_: You may have been expecting a run-of-the-mill action/adventure story... and you found one! Okay, not really. This is supposed to be the grand adventure of this non-heroic Pokémon trainer as she uncovers a major conspiracy that involves the entire Pokémon nation, while simultaneously trying to stop Pokémon and humans from destroying each other in another war. Besides Kris, a large number of supporting characters will be introduced. And I will try to make this as un-clichéd(?) as possible, with equal parts of comedy and drama, action and character development and one giant mystery in the middle._

Cast:

**Kris**, insecure, neurotic and snarky anti-heroine of the story**  
>Croc<strong>, Kris' violent but child-like Feraligatr**  
>Wes<strong>, brash and over-confident Pokémon trainer and cowboy wannabe from Orre**  
>Shane<strong>, Kris' former friend, a rather unmasculine non-action guy who may not be as dumb as he seems**  
>Shrew<strong>, Shane's cowardly Sandshrew that has to protect is master from his own idiocy**  
>Leaf<strong>, intelligent, resourceful but also depressed Pokémon researcher from Kanto. She and Silver have unsolved issues.**  
>Silver<strong>, a cynical former criminal and Leaf's ex-boyfriend plagued by his feelings towards Leaf and the fact that his father is...**  
>Giovanni<strong>, current leader of Team Rocket, Silver's father and the story's main antagonist whose plan is the major mystery of the story**  
>N<strong>, Giovanni' ally and mirror opposite, who wants to create instead of destroying and to liberate Pokémon from humans. The reason why he is allied with someone like Giovanni is a mystery to everyone in the story...**  
>Touko<strong>, a former trainer who has come to hate Pokémon and who hides her traumatic past under a layer of aggression and fake confidence**  
>Yellow<strong>, a mysterious but seemingly benevolent girl who helps Kris out throughout the story for unknown reasons**  
>Luka<strong>, Yellow's serene but protective Lucario**  
>Suicune<strong>, one of the legendary Pokémon who want to help humans, not to destroy them**  
>Prof. Elm<strong>, a scatterbrained, pushover of a scientist who might be the only sane man of the story**  
>Blaine<strong>, Elm's best friend and mirror opposite. He is a paranoid conspiracy theorist and very easy to anger. Responsible for the creation of Mewtwo**  
>Mewtwo<strong>, genetic super-Pokémon and Mew's clone still searching for its own identity while Giovanni still pursues it**  
>Palmer<strong>, former Tower Tycoon, currently giving Kris orders, claiming to be 'saving the world', though it's not made clear what he is saving it from.**  
>Lyra<strong>, Kris' rival and one of her few friends, has now disappeared and is presumed dead by some and alive by others. Even Kris herself doesn't know the true extent of Lyra's feelings towards Kris...

And many more, but these are the most important ones


	2. Kris Versus The World

**Chapter Two: Kris Versus The World**

The Suicune stood on a cliff with Kris on its back. It was eight in the morning, and while the sun was already up, it was freezing cold on the high cliff. Looking through her binoculars, Kris felt as if the entire Unova region opened itself to her. She had only been there once and even that was brief visit in some sleazy bar. Specifically, she could see the entire Skyarrow Bridge, the gigantic, beautiful white structure. At the other side were trees from Pinwheel Forest, while at the other end was Castelia City, the largest city in Unova. From where Kris was standing, the city was like one big circle full of tall skyscrapers that left all the other buildings in their shadow. The only details she could see were the five piers at the waterfront, extending from the outskirts of the city.

The other cities were mostly just gray blurs in the distance, surrounded by the endless green forests. Kris couldn't help but to feel disappointed: no giant clouds of smoke, no cities burned to the ground, no signs of conflict or apocalypse whatsoever. So absolutely nothing of interest happened while Kris was hiding in her little cave? What bull-

_Hang on…_

Kris focused her attention to the piers. Something was indeed happening there. A black ship anchored next to the Liberty Pier. Kris zoomed in and saw a bunch of men and women in uniforms leaving the ship. Not Team Plasma - they seemed to wear thick armor and black military-style uniforms that all had a lightning bolt emblem on their chests. And after the troops, waves of electric-type Pokémon were offloaded from the ship: a bunch of Voltorb, Electrode, Magnemite, Magneton and a few Magnezone, among others.

"Holon Security Force," Kris muttered to Suicune. "Look, I don't think you can take me there… if they see a legendary Pokémon, they'll shoot on sight, I know these things!"

Suicune turned its head to stare at Kris, as if it was questioning her. Kris crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow.

"Don't believe me, huh?" she said to the beast. "Fine, take me there so those soldiers can make Swiss cheese from both of us. Go!"

Suicune turned around and started walking down the cliff, towards the Skyarrow Bridge. Kris hoped that it had understood that she was being sarcastic.

"I hope you have a good plan in place…" Kris said.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Castelia City Entrance, the west end of Skyarrow Bridge, Unova**_

Clutching to Suicune's neck, Kris tried to be as flat as possible (not hard for her) while lying on the Suicune's back. Suicune's purple mane covered her well, but Suicune itself didn't seem to care about its safety as it casually walked to the Castelia City Gate. As Kris had predicted, two Security Force soldiers and a Magneton were waiting for them. Kris closed her eyes and prayed that Suicune knew what it was doing.

"Hey!" a soldier yelled and Kris gasped, hoping that the mane covered her entirely.

"It's Suicune!" the other soldier shouted, then predictably added: "Kill it!"

"Magneton, Thunderbolt!" the first soldier ordered.

But Magneton was merely charging its attack when Suicune reacted. Even though Kris held on tight, she still almost fell as Suicune jumped over the gate, then started running away. Moving faster than any other Pokémon Kris had ever seen, Suicune raced through the streets of Castelia City. People screamed as the legendary Pokémon jumped over them, making incredibly long leaps. It didn't jump as much as it basically glided through the air, making it impossible for the HSF soldiers to follow.

Finally, Suicune stopped jumping around and stopped on a secluded back alley. It was still fairly early in the morning and the street was one of the less crowded places in Castelia, so no civilians saw where Suicune landed. Feeling that Suicune had stopped, Kris opened her eyes, just in time for Suicune to throw her out of its back.

Kris landed painfully, her back hitting the concrete. "Ow!" she complained. "Are you insane? Real covert, Suicune, now every damn Security Force trooper knows you're in town. Even you can't run away if they bring reinforcements! Oh, crap, do you think they saw my legs? Damn it, they know I'm with you and they'll kill me and-"

Suicune roared loudly, causing Kris to flinch and stop her ranting.

"_What_?" she snapped.

Suicune nodded its head behind Kris, further down the alley. At first, Kris saw nothing but garbage cans and brick walls, then finally a small coffee shop, Café Sonata, somewhere in the middle.

"That place?" Kris asked, pointing at the café.

Suicune nodded.

Puzzled, Kris looked at the café again. It was already open, but there was barely any customers inside. Kris turned to Suicune, confused and wanting some info.

"Look," she said, "I ain't going there until-"

"_It went over here! Come on!_"

The yells and the footsteps of the Security Force soldiers grew closer. Kris panicked and hid behind a garbage can, but Suicune just jumped on the main street, right in front of the soldiers. Kris couldn't look, but stayed behind the trashcan, listening to what was going on.

"_There it is!_"

"_Quick, kill it before it attempts to reach a peaceful resolution!_"

"_Use Thunder Wave_!"

"_Damn it, it's getting way! After it!"_

"_I wish I hadn't stopped for tacos earlier…_"

Then, loud footsteps again, as probably five or six soldiers ran after the Suicune. Kris relaxed a bit, but still waited for at least a minute before standing up again. Suicune was fast, it couldn't get caught, Kris knew it. Or at least hoped it. Kris had also seen the thing move: there's no way the soldiers could have seen anything but a blue blur as it ran, so no one knew that Kris was in town.

So, as she had nothing else to do, Kris entered Café Sonata.

As soon as Kris stepped into the small café, the powerful aroma of coffee overwhelmed her. But an even more overwhelming scent was coming from the old hippie wearing sunglasses who sat next to the counter, played guitar and sang out of tune. Fortunately, it was still too early for all the laptop-carrying, hemp-wearing hipsters to show up. Kris walked to the counter, where she was pleasantly greeted by a young, blonde-haired girl who was probably around seventeen or eighteen years of age. She was even smaller than Kris, and the most peculiar thing about her was the large straw hat she was wearing.

_Another Castelia fad, I guess…_

"Welcome to Café Sonata!" the girl said, smiling widely. "How may I help you, Kris?"

"Yeah, I-"

Kris paused mid-sentence, staring at the girl open-mouthed.

"Uh…"

"I got word that you might be coming," the girl continued casually. "You can call me… Yellow."

Kris just stared as she shook hands with the smiling, cheerful Yellow. Had she missed something? How did that she know her name?

"Listen, you," Kris said, "I-"

"Lock the door please, Cal," Yellow told the musical hippie, interrupting Kris.

The hippie just played his guitar and sang, ignoring everything else: "_How many routes must a man walk down, before he can max out his EV's… Ooooh…"_

"CAL!" Yellow yelled.

"_Seven a.m, waking up in the morning, gotta be fresh, gotta go downstairs_-"

"CAL, for Arceus' sake!" Yellow screamed. "Anything but that! I'm getting a brain hemorrhage here!"

The hippie stopped playing and looked around in confusion. He dropped his guitar, and looked embarrassed when he noticed Kris.

"Sorry, I got too deep into the role," the hippie said. "Good to see you again, Kris!"

"HOW THE HELL DO YOU PEOPLE KNOW MY NAME?"

Kris placed her hand on the Poké Ball attached on her waist.

"I swear," she said, grinding her teeth together, "tell me what the hell is going on, now! I've got an alligator-thingy here and I'm not afraid to use it!"

"No need for violence, Kris," Yellow said, sounding oddly serene and still smiling despite Kris' outburst.

"Yeah, take a stress pill or something," the old hippie said.

"Time to show her who you are, Cal," Yellow said.

Kris didn't understand anything, but the old hippie just smiled and nodded. Then, Kris just watched in horror as the old hippie grabbed his face, and as if it was made of rubber, just tore it away. Underneath the mask, the "hippie" turned out to be a young, bald man. Cal removed his shoes too, revealing that he was about as "tall" as Yellow, making both of them even shorter than Kris.

"Oh, _that_ Cal," Kris said. "You were the head chef back at SledgeHammer!"

"Glad to see it's really you," Cal smiled and threw away his mask, his wig and his sunglasses. "Though I knew it was you the second you started screaming."

"What's going on?" Kris asked, looking back and forth between Yellow and Cal who smiled annoyingly and creepily. "So, that Suicune brought me here for a reason? Hey, Cal, what happened to the base?"

"It blew up," Cal replied nonchalantly. "Got out in the nick of time."

"We knew that you wouldn't remember," Yellow said. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions to ask, but there really isn't much time… come to the back room!"

Frustrated and feeling like an idiot for not knowing anything, Kris nonetheless followed Yellow and Cal to the door behind the counter. The three stepped into the dark room, and while Cal shut the door behind him, Yellow switched on the lights.

"AHH!"

Kris got spooked again when she was suddenly face to face with a Lucario, a bipedal, jackal-like Pokémon that had assumed a combat stance and its paws were glowing, as if it was ready to blast Kris with an Aura Sphere.

Yellow tried to stop her, but Kris reacted quickly, opening her Poké Ball. Her Feraligatr came out, being much bigger than the Lucario, roaring and cracking its knuckles at it.

"WAIT!" Yellow shouted, and stopped smiling for a moment as she stepped between Kris' Feraligatr and her Lucario. "Kris, it's okay. This is Luka," she added and turned to the Lucario. "Luka, just relax. They're our friends."

Kris wasn't quite sure what to do. She had the urge to tell her Feraligatr to pulverize everyone in the room with a Hydro Cannon, but resisted it. Still, she didn't recall Croc just yet.

"Stand down, Croc," Kris told the Feraligatr and it obeyed, albeit grudgingly, as it was itching to fight. "So you guys are packing heat, I see," Kris said and looked at Luka. It walked into the corner of the room, sat down, closed its eyes and started to meditate. A blue aura glowed around it.

"Luka is constantly vigilant," Yellow explained as both she and Cal sat down on the floor too.

Kris looked around the back room. There were just boxes and shelves, plus some sort of large, red, disc-shaped button on the ground. Kris didn't sit down just yet - she just wasn't trusting enough.

"Expecting trouble?" Kris asked.

"I'll cut to the chase," Yellow said. "We can't be in Castelia for long. I got a job here for the sole purpose of bringing you in. Suicune had been looking for you for weeks!"

"Why?" Kris wondered. " I mean, what good am I for?"

Yellow smiled again, which irritated Kris.

"Don't talk about yourself like that, Kris," Yellow said. "We need you. Me and Cal are, um, working for a certain group. All of its members have their own goals, sure, but me and Cal are especially interested in preventing this war! And you're the only one that can help us!"

Kris scoffed at this and brushed her hair off her face, as if to say 'who gives a crap'.

"Sure I am," Kris said. "It's like, I'm the Chosen One, the savior of the universe, her royal highness Mary Sue! Right. Except that I've been hiding in a cave for this past week, eating raw Remoraid."

"You shouldn't do that," Cal said sincerely. "You might get worms!"

"_Anyway_," Yellow said before Kris could say anything at Cal, "you may think you're nothing special, but I assure you that nothing is farther from the truth. Besides, the leader of this group asked you, and you specifically. He'll tell you whatever you need to know."

"Hold on!" Kris said as Yellow and Cal stood up. "Just tell me on thing first: are the legendary Pokémon about to attack? I do remember that Heatran, Darkrai and Regigigas are dead, and the others are probably out for revenge! Is there chaos on the streets or something?"

Yellow shook her head.

"Not in Unova," she said. "We're pretty far from the rest of the world, but you saw those soldiers: they're probably ready in case Kyurem decides to attack. There have been sightings of it flying above Nimbasa City. Kanto and Johto on the other hand… there's been some pretty bad fights over there, but nothing apocalyptic."

"Not yet, anyway," Cal added. "But if we don't hurry…"

"Okay, okay, I'll meet your leader dude person," Kris snapped. "Where is he?"

"Well, he used to have his office in the Sinnoh Battle Tower," Yellow said, "but he moved to Mahogany Town in Johto. Apparently Team Rocket has abandoned all of their hideouts there, so he was free to move in."

"_Johto_?" Kris said in a shrill voice, causing Cal to cover his ears. "How the hell am I supposed to get there?"

"Well if you'd stopped screaming and swearing at us for a moment, we'd show you," Yellow said, calmly as always. "Activate the warp pad, Cal."

Cal groaned, apparently being the one who had to do all the work there, even though a perfectly fit Lucario was meditating in the corner. He crouched next to the big red button on the floor, fiddling with some electronics. Then, the button started humming loudly.

"Okay, Kris and Croc," Yellow said. "Step on the button and you'll be teleported into the leader's place in Johto."

Kris didn't make a move, she just stared at the big red button warily. Croc was ready to step on it, but Kris stopped it.

"Don't take this the wrong way," Kris said slowly, staring at the button," but do you think I'm a moron?"

"It's perfectly safe!" Cal assured. "Usually, people get to their destinations with all their limbs still attached."

"Usually?"

Yellow nudged Cal with her elbow.

"Uh…" Cal flustered. "I mean… _always_."

"But before you go, a few things," Yellow said. "First of all, the leader is not a very pleasant guy. I know he gets things done and he's fighting for a good cause but… don't trust him. I know you, you're savvy enough."

"What do you mean you know me?" Kris wondered. "We haven't even met before!"

"Uh… right, yeah, but… yeah," Yellow said and nervously rubbed the back of her neck. "Also, I'm pretty sure he's about to give you a job, an important one. No is saying that this is going to be easy, so… I want to make sure your Pokémon trust you enough and that they'll do whatever it takes to protect you. When did you get Croc?"

"Um, four years ago, I think," Kris replied, more confused than ever. "I was just a Totodile got it from Professor Elm when I joined Extranormal Operations, that group who was supposed to protect humans from the more hostile Pokémon… yeah, that went well… why do you ask?"

"We're facing dark times, Kris," Yellow said. "I have been hoping that humans and Pokémon would live in harmony, but all these recent events, talks about war, extremists on both sides… they're really not helping my cause. But as long as you and your Feraligatr co-operate despite everything they throw at you, you should do fine. Have you had any problems with it, Kris?"

"Problems… uh, well, at first, a bit. It wouldn't obey me at anything, it just kept fooling around. Then it evolved into Croconaw, and it started to finally obey. Mostly things went well. Then it evolved into Feraligatr… mostly things went well, but it… _he's_been acting strangely. Recently, he's been very good and obedient, but there are times that it seems to be uneasy and impatient…"

"I see."

Yellow walked to the Feraligatr. Kris and Cal watched as she closed her eyes raised her hand. Without saying a word, she managed to make Feraligatr crouch so Yellow could touch its head. Then, Feraligatr closed its eyes as well. For a moment, both Yellow and Feraligatr were just still in the same position.

Then, both opened their eyes, Yellow took her hand away and Feraligatr stood upright again.

"Uh… what just happened?" Kris asked. "What did you do to it?"

"You should be proud, Kris," Yellow smiled. "When Pokémon reach their final forms, they sometimes lose respect for their trainers… that briefly happened to Croc as well, but _very_briefly. It trusts you and it would die to protect you."

"Wow… really?" Kris asked and looked at Croc. The Pokémon just scratched itself lazily and didn't look very heroic at the moment.

"Yes, really," Yellow said. "The reasons for its problems are quite clear… it just craves more action, more battles, and you're likely going to face some. As for why it's itching to fight so much is because it's… uh… well… what's the appropriate word… in heat."

"Huh," Kris said as she raised her eyebrow quizzically. "But… it's a dude."

"Yeah, but that doesn't change that it craves, uh… not just action but _action_, if you-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Kris interrupted. "Please, don't say anything more, I get it. I'll just have to figure something out. Uh, I'll just be going now."

Kris and Croc stepped on the big red button together. Cal, on the other hand, moved a nearby bookshelf, revealing a hidden switch and a meter behind it. Meanwhile, the button's humming got even louder.

"Not enough power yet," Cal said while reading the meter. "A few more seconds…"

"What exactly did you do to Croc to learn all that?" Kris asked Yellow. "Do you… can you, like, _talk _to them?"

"Quite many can nowadays, what with the new technological improvements," Yellow said. "I don't need such things to talk with them, as I… well, it's complicated. I'll explain later, that I promise. This won't be our last meeting."

"Well, did you 'talk' to Suicune as well?" Kris asked. "Can I see it again, too? It saved my life, and I wanna thank it, plus it's a pwetty Pokémon…"

"Fifteen seconds," Cal said. "Fourteen…. Thirteen… Twelve…"

"You're into Pokémon, Kris?" Yellow asked.

Kris's eyes widened and she blushed a little as she attempted to answer the question, which was rather private anyway.

"N-no!" she stuttered. "I… I'm not into anyone or anything… of course I _like_ Pokémon, more than humans actually, but I'm not _into_them or… you know what I mean!"

"Five… Four… Three… Two… One… Go!"

Kris didn't have time to finish her explanation as Cal flipped the switch on the wall. The button started to glow, and a second later, a bright flash of light illuminated the room, forcing Yellow and Cal to shield their eyes. When the light faded away, Kris and Croc were gone.

"Turn off the warp pad," Yellow said as she rubbed her eyes. "Let's hope they got there…"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Former Rocket Hideout, Mahogany Town, Johto**_

While had Kris had been teleported before, she never got used to the sensation of suddenly popping out of existence and being reassembled in some other place. She nervously checked that all her fingers were still in tact, but was startled by a male voice speaking to her:

"Welcome to Johto, Kris!"

Kris looked around her. She was in the underground hideout all right, as there was no windows but a lot of ventilation shafts in the dimly lit room. The voice was coming from behind a desk just near Kris. Sitting on a fancy leather chair was Barry Palmer, the former Tower Tycoon, apparently current leader of some ragtag group.

Palmer was a tall man with long, blonde hair and, oddly enough, orange eyes, a trait he shared with his son. He wore a green overcoat and black gloves, and he sat on his leather chair like on a throne, smiling deviously at Kris.

"You!" Kris snapped at Palmer.

"Ah, so you do remember," Palmer replied arrogantly and placed his hands together, keeping his fingers interlocked. "Sorry about that whole memory thing, again, but at least you recovered some of it…"

"What happened, exactly?" Kris asked.

"Let me ask you something first," Palmer said. "What's the last thing you remember?"

"Um…"

_I was away from the SledgeHammer and Extranormal Operations base, on a mission, I think. Me and Leaf went to take down Ghetsis of Team Plasma. He shot himself, but not before revealing… something. I can't remember… I don't know what happened to Leaf, or Lyra, or Shane or anyone after that point. I just remember being contacted by this man… Palmer… I managed to steal the sixteen plates of origin from Cheren Black… then I sold them to Palmer! I don't think I got any money, though…_

"You still know who you are, right?" Palmer asked after Kris had been quiet for some time.

"Yes!" Kris shouted back, offended by the remark.

"It still doesn't hurt to refresh your memory a bit," Palmer said. "A friend of mine has been, uh… _gathering information_from you during these last few years. He can fill you in. Come on out!"

Kris looked behind him as someone approached from the shadows. A tall, robust man in full Team Rocket uniform: the black cap, black shirt with the R-symbol on it, black pants, white gloves and white boots. He used a domino mask to cover his eyes. Probably the most notable thing about him was his thick, handlebar moustache that he kept stroking like a cartoon villain.

"Ta-dah!" the man yelled, taking confetti out of his pocket and throwing it in the air. "Fernando is my name, and mayhem is my game. And so shall it be, as all of you can see, that _I_, Fernando, will be-"

"I get it, your name is Fernando, I remember you," Kris said to stop any further rhyming. "You work for Team Rocket!"

"Incorrect, m'lady," Fernando said and politely bowed at Kris. "I'm freelance, you see, and by that, I mean that I only work for those who can please my desire to cause chaos and discord wherever I go, to broadcast my greatness in places high, and places low, to-"

"To clarify," Palmer interrupted, "he used to work for Team Rocket, yes, but I made him a better offer, so until recently, he spied on Giovanni for me. I need all the info I can get. Though I have no idea why he still wears that uniform…"

"I'm shocked!" Fernando exclaimed flamboyantly. "Surely I have told you that I made this costume myself! It's 99% organic material!"

"What?" Kris asked. "Uh, Palmer, I've been wondering… what is it with this guy? Was he kicked out from drama school or what?"

"Yes, but for purely unrelated reasons!" Fernando stated. "That play I wrote didn't get the appreciation I needed! And after all that charity work I did! I skinned a group of Growlithe alive just to make clothes for orphans! Before I could do it the other way around, the police got to me…"

"Thank you, Fernando, just read the info," Palmer said, trying to sound calm, which was nearly impossible in Fernando's presence.

Fernando bowed and took a scroll from his pocket, then started to read it in a loud, theatrical voice:

"Tiffany Christine Zimmerman, better known as Kris," he announced. "Born in New Bark Town, aspiring Pokémon Trainer who was kicked out of Earl's Pokémon Academy, then was forced to join a group known as Extranormal Operations by Professor Elm. Described by psychologists as neurotic, insecure, quirky, manic-depressive, slightly nihilistic and just plain annoying."

"Yup, that's me," Kris said. "But I think I know _that_. I don't have amnesia, that would be horribly clichéd! I just wanna know what happened to my frie- my _colleagues_and what's the state of the world right now."

"A reasonable request," Palmer said. "Fernando, bring our guest a chair."

"That's cool, Mr. Palmer," Fernando said, "but I'm not really a guest, I have been living here for- oh, right, her, forget what I said. Laterz!"

Fernando walked away, leaving Kris mystified.

"What a guy," she said, "and by that I mean, why haven't you shot him already?"

"He's got his uses," Palmer said evasively and shrugged. "I don't have a lot of people working for me. You've seen Cal and Fernando by now… Yellow isn't really working for me as much as she's working with Cal… I don't know what her deal is but she's useful, and I don't complain. I have other operatives too, but you don't need to know about that. And, I'm hoping that you'll also join us…"

"To my questions," Kris said monotonously as she crossed her arms and stared down at Palmer.

"Of course," Palmer said and smiled again, though instead of happy, it made him look psychotic. "A few weeks ago, Cheren Black, whom everyone thought to be a mild-mannered businessman, finished a machine that he was going to use to blow up SledgeHammer's base. Cheren was apparently an undercover operative sent by someone to take down the Committee, and as Extranormal Operations worked for them, they were the first ones to get destroyed. It's a good thing they stopped him before he blew up any more buildings. He's dead now."

"Figures," Kris said. "But I guess he had it coming. But I'll interrupt for a moment: what's the 'Committee'?"

"It would take all day for me to explain that," Palmer said, "so I'll just simply state that they're a powerful organization consisting of some of the most important people in the Pokémon world. The champions and the professors are in power in name only; the Committee has the real power around here, but my organization is keen on stopping them."

Palmer continued: "Anyway, I should inform you that no one died in the explosion. Dr. Leaf Greene went back to the base and rescued the staff while you came to me with the plates."

Kris squinted at Palmer as she struggled to remember. _Did I choose to sell the plates to Palmer instead of going to save them? That can't be right… but more importantly, where's my damn money?_

"You-"

"Then," Palmer said before Kris could start, "I recall that SledgeHammer's administrative staff was arrested. Professor Kaminko, Dr. Krane, Professor Elm… my sources tell me that it was thanks to Elm that the group was arrested."

"Huh?"

"Apparently Elm was willing to go into prison himself just to get Kaminko behind bars," Palmer said nonchalantly, apparently having no interest in the fate of these people, "as I said, no casualties, apart from Cheren of course. Shane and that crazy scientist, Blaine, were hospitalized, but only for a few days. But I have no idea where any of them are now, sorry."

Palmer reached into his drawer and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. He put one in his mouth and lit it while Kris stared at him, patiently waiting for more info. Of course, being patient was never Kris' strong suit…

"_Then what_?" Kris yelled and slammed her hand on Palmer's desk. "What about Lyra? Lyra Soul? She was a f- colleague of mine, too."

Palmer sighed and turned away from Kris as she smoked his cigarette.

"Lyra, yes…" he muttered. "Kris, I knew I had to tell you this sooner or later, so here goes… the Committee gave Lyra a promotion, they made her into an assassin. They hired her to assassinate, well… you." Kris's eyes widened of surprise, but Palmer just continued: "Yeah, obviously that didn't go as planned since you're still here… to my knowledge, she refused to kill you, so in turn, the Committee's hired goons…"

Palmer put out his cigarette and sighed, staring at a wall instead of looking at Kris.

"…yeah?" Kris asked.

"They chased her down and killed her," Palmer said. "I'm sorry."

Kris turned pale - moreso than usual - and made balls with her fists. She stared down at Palmer, as if expecting him to shout "Gotcha!" or something. That couldn't be possible… Lyra was not dead… she couldn't be…

"You're joking," Kris said monotonously, her voice trembling in horror.

"If you want to hear jokes, talk to Fernando, the guy is a living joke," Palmer said impatiently. "I didn't get to this position by being funny. Of course, I didn't see the death in person to confirm it, but Fernando did: he stated that a group of hitmen hired a Magmortar to shoot her. She was hit in the abdomen and, according to records, rushed to the Saffron City Hospital. I did a little research and found out that she died there about thirty minutes after being checked in."

Kris started to feel nauseous. She would have probably fainted if Fernando hadn't brought in the chair he promised, placing it under Kris just in time for her to fall into it. How did that happen? There had to be some kind of mistake… Kris knew that Lyra was tough, much tougher than Kris herself, and she had survived a week in a cave by eating scraps…

_She was the only one who really understood…_

Kris didn't say anything, just sat quietly. Palmer apparently believed that grieving time was over, as he continued talking, even though Kris wasn't listening:

"As for the state of the world… well, so far so good. Everyone are extra vigilant in case another human-Pokémon war erupts, but if all the remaining legendary Pokémon decide to attack at once, we're all screwed. A war wouldn't really be beneficial for me and my organization… that's where you come in. There's three tasks that I need you to do to prevent this. I'll tell them to you tomorrow… I figured you would be tired and hungry after all you endured, so I arranged a bed and some food for you. I need you at your best."

Kris just nodded. She bit her lip, trying to restrain herself - but what she really wanted to do was burst into tears. She just couldn't do it - not with Palmer and Fernando watching.

"One more thing," Palmer said. "I need to test you and your," Palmer paused and looked at Kris' Feraligatr, who stood behind Kris, looking threatening, "Pokémon," he finished. "Fernando has agreed to have a test battle with you tomorrow morning. That is all. Fernando, show Ms. Zimmerman her room, willya?"

"Of course, sir," Fernando said smarmily. "Follow me, ma'am."

But Kris wouldn't move out of the chair, so Fernando had to grab her arm and drag her away from Palmer. Croc just followed lazily behind them, leaving Palmer alone in his darkened office. He looked at Kris' file, which Fernando had left on his table. _This is going to be interesting_, he thought.

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes: Yeah, a lot of exposition and dialogue in this one. My apologies, but I felt it was necessary to make a bit clearer plot this time. Fear not, big questions, mysteries and weirdness will be delivered! Coming up next: Kris vs. Fernando Pokémon battle, and much more!<em>


	3. It's Always Sunny in Orre

**Chapter Three: It's Always Sunny In Orre**

Around seven a.m. that morning, Kris lay in bed fully clothed. She had been there all day yesterday, on her stomach with her head buried in the pillows. She didn't get much sleep last night, she was just there. Croc was currently chewing on the curtains of her room, causing sunlight to pour in annoyingly. Kris heard steps outside her room, but couldn't care less. Croc, on the other hand, pulled up its fists and prepared for combat.

The door was kicked open by Fernando, much to Croc's disappointment, as it had wanted a proper fight.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Fernando proclaimed loudly. "Today is another gloriously horrible day! Get up and get some breakfast! I made waffles!"

But Kris didn't budge. Croc looked worried and started sniffing at Kris, probably thinking that its trainer had suddenly died. But Kris just brushed the Pokémon away with her hand.

"Hmm…" Fernando pondered, twirling his moustache and quizzically watched Kris as the girl wouldn't get up. "Okay, okay, you got me, I can't make waffles! Satisfied?"

Kris still didn't move or say anything. Fernando sighed impatiently.

"Ugh, seriously?" he said. "You're just gonna be there all day _again_, even though the weather outside is wonderfully horrible? No sunshine, no snow, just another gray morning in Mahogany Town. Yay! Now come on, we need to have our practice battle!"

"I don't wanna," Kris replied lazily, her voice muffled by the pillow.

"Please, girl, that attitude would have worked ten years ago, but you're a freakin' adult!" Fernando ranted. "You're a grown-up! Act like one!"

"I didn't grow up," Kris said, still refusing to move. "I never had time. I lived at home until I was nineteen, then I was drafted to Extranormal Operations and spend most of my four years there just sitting indoors. So leave me alone."

"I have orders," Fernando said simply, "but I don't have the energy to force you. Funny, though. I read your files, and it seems that you dreamed of being a badass Pokémon Trainer one day… but if you're _that_scared of losing…"

Fernando used the oldest trick in the book, but it worked. Reluctantly, Kris got up from bed and followed Fernando.

**~o~O~o~**

The "battle room" where Fernando took Kris was basically just Palmer's office where Kris had been yesterday, with Palmer's desk and other items moved to the sides in order to make a clearing. Kris and Croc were ready, while Fernando kept throwing his Poké Ball in the air, juggling it from one hand to another. Palmer stood next to Fernando.

"I'll act as the judge," Palmer explained. "We shall now test your level of skill as a trainer and the level of synchronization you have achieved with your Pokémon. Ready? Go!"

"Abso-positive-lutely!" Fernando announced and gave his Poké Ball a kiss for good luck.

"Sure," Kris replied lazily. "Croc, go, fight, or whatever."

Hearing this, Croc looked at its trainer nervously, but nonetheless walked to the arena and assumed a combat stance.

"Muk… go!" Fernando screamed theatrically and threw a Poké Ball on the arena.

After a bright flash of red light, a Pokémon erupted from the Poké Ball. Muk looked like a large pile of toxic, purple sludge with two large hands, the left one being larger than the right one, and a humongous mouth. Still, Kris focused a bit when she saw her opponent - _this battle wouldn't be too hard, _Kris thought, as her opponent looked like a pile of crap. Hell, it _was_ a pile of crap. She just had to remember not to let Croc touch Muk's sticky and poisonous "skin" and it would be okay.

"Don't tire yourself out, Croc," Kris said exhaustedly. "Just use Water Gun for starters!"

Croc didn't really appreciate being told to fight like a wuss, but it shrugged and sprayed water towards the Muk from its mouth.

"Muk, Minimize!" Fernando shouted.

To Kris' surprise, Muk suddenly shrank in size, pulling all its sludge together into a ball, causing the Water Gun to miss. Kris frowned.

"Okay, let's go with something stronger, I guess," she said. "Croc, Ice Beam."

Kris ordered the attack without any kind of passion, causing Croc to groan, but the Feraligatr nevertheless fired a freezing beam of energy towards the Muk.

"Muk, Harden!" Fernando ordered.

Muk's body started shining and its sludge became more dense, causing the Ice Beam to just ricochet off Muk's surface. Muk just laughed at Croc's attack attempts as it released toxic gas in the air.

"Damn it, this ain't working!" Kris groaned. "Can I just give up, guys?"

"We're just getting started, Krissy," Fernando mocked. "Muk, Giga Impact!"

Palmer swore loudly as Muk charged at Croc, moving surprisingly fast for a pile of s…ludge. When it was close enough, Muk jumped into the air and hurled itself towards Croc.

"Croc, Dynamicpunch!" Kris yelled desperately as Muk came closer.

Before Muk reached Croc, the bulky Feraligatr punched it as hard as it could, sending Muk flying backwards towards Fernando. But Fernando grinned, as did his Muk: Croc had gotten some toxic sludge on its hand, and was now feeling woozy and starting to stagger.

"Damn it, I should have kept an extra Pecha Berry…" Kris muttered to herself. "Uh… yeah, that's it Croc… keep it up or… whatever…"

At the other end of the room, Palmer was irritated by Kris' poor performance while Fernando chuckled to himself.

"Great job, Muk!" Fernando told his Pokémon. "High five! Ah, gotcha! I ain't touching you again! Remember when I had that diarrhea for five days straight? Man…"

"This isn't going too well," Palmer muttered. "I shouldn't have told her about Lyra…"

"Actually, boss, that gives me an idea," Fernando pondered. "Hey! Kris!" he yelled.

"What?"

"At least try to give me a challenge," Fernando said and smirked. "You fight worse than you friend Lyra, and she has the excuse of only having half her stomach left!"

Kris felt like punching Fernando. She clutched her fingers together, forming a fist while visibly shaking all over, as if she was ready to erupt. All her aggression was piling up, and she was ready to unleash it.

"Croc, Slash!"

Kris' next order came with a powerful, convincing voice, making Croc happier as well. Ignoring its poisoned state, Croc started to run towards Muk, and Muk tried to counter this by using Sludge Bomb. It opened its mouth and rapidly fired brown balls of sludge towards Croc.

"Ice Beam!"

Croc opened its mouth as well, blasting all the sludge bombs with a blue energy beam, causing them to freeze mid-air and shatter into pieces.

"Muk, Harden again!"

Fernando finished his order just in time as Croc approached Muk. It hardened its skin again, causing Croc's Slash attack to bounce off. Croc retreated a bit, and Fernando took advantage of the pause in combat:

"You know, Mr. Palmer, we should give up!" Fernando yelled, looking at Kris the whole time and grinning. "Clearly she's just not Pokémon Trainer material. She can't even put all that baggage behind her… poor widdle girl… I mean, come on, Lyra couldn't have been _that_ important…"

Palmer tugged Fernando's sleeve anxiously. "_What are you doing_?" he muttered. "Fernando, there's no guarantee that she'll-"

"Just watch," Fernando muttered back.

Kris looked furious, as if something just had exploded inside her. Her hands clenched in fists of rage, her stringy, greasy hair hanging on her face so you couldn't see her expression, but she was breathing heavily, shaking, ready to attack…

…then she brushed back her hair, screaming out her attack ear-piercingly loudly: "CROC! HYDRO CANNON!"

"Muk, Gunk Shot!" Fernando yelled quickly.

Croc opened its mouth, causing a blue of flash of light to appear in front of it. Meanwhile, Muk sucked in air, preparing its attack.

They attacked simultaneously. Croc blasted a huge orb of water towards the Muk, while Muk fired a powerful blast of liquid poison towards Croc.

The attacks collided mid-air. The ensuing explosion shook the whole building, causing paintings to fall off walls. The shockwave knocked back Fernando and Palmer, who had to shield their eyes from the cloud of dust and rubble. The water from Croc's attack was splattered all over the room.

When the dust cleared, Fernando and Palmer opened their eyes. Both Croc and the Muk were standing still, as was Kris. Croc panted and clearly struggled to stand, but didn't even blink as it stared down at the Muk. Finally, the Muk closed its eyes and fainted. Almost forgetting his role as the judge, Palmer wiped some dust off his jacket and was clearly grinning as he got up.

"Kris wins!" Palmer proclaimed.

Fernando recalled Muk into its Poké Ball.

"Good job, buddy," he said to the Poké Ball, put it in his pocket and turned to Palmer. "See?" Fernando asked, his tone smug and condescending. "Told you it would work."

But just when Fernando said that, Kris collapsed on her knees. Concerned, Croc immediately rushed to her aid while Palmer shook his head.

"See, this is what I meant," he muttered to Fernando discreetly. "Push her too hard and she'll just exhaust herself. Take care of her for now, Fernando. Once she's feeling better, take her to my office."

"You know, boss, I could do the thing you want," Fernando stated proudly. "You don't need _her_," he added and looked at Kris as she was something he had scraped off his shoes.

"I've made my decision, Fernando," Palmer said and turned to leave the room.

**~o~O~o~**_  
><em>

Kris was back in Palmer's office, sitting by the man's desk and staring at him with her arms crossed. It had taken Fernando a few hours to make Kris recover, but now she acted like nothing had happened. Croc was doing its own thing on the background, chewing on the books it pulled out of the bookshelf, but Palmer ignored it. He just smoked a cigarette while staring back at Kris.

After the two had stared each other for some time, Palmer put out his cigarette and started talking. "Good fight, Kris, I'll give you that," he said. "I knew you were just the type of person I was looking for."

"Uh huh."

Kris' tone of voice and attitude had changed. Instead of uptight moping, she was now back to arrogant cynicism.

"I realize that we may had pushed you too hard," Palmer continued, "but it was necessary. I need to know you've dealt with what's happened and moved on."

"Name the job and I'll do it," Kris simply stated. "No guarantees that I'll succeed, but I'll see how things go…"

"I just wanted to make sure," Palmer said. "If I wanted to hear whining, I'd play a Japanese role-playing game. Now, I'm sure you want to hear what I have in mind for you."

Palmer stood up, but motioned Kris to keep sitting. Then, he waved a signal at Fernando, who was leaning to a wall at the other end of the room. He turned off the lights, then turned on a projector.

A picture of an ancient temple of sorts was projected on the wall. To be more precise, it looked more like ruins of an ancient temple, with only some stone pillar and pieces of the walls remaining. The temple resided on a snowy mountaintop, high above ground. Kris couldn't quite recognize the place.

"This is the Spear Pillar," Palmer explained. "It's in Sinnoh, on top of Mt. Coronet. Explorers, hikers and researchers have been looking this place for years, yet no one seems to find a clear path. This picture is the only one ever taken. But whoever took it… well, only his camera was found. You get the picture."

Kris seemed to have more important things in mind: "Couldn't you guys have done a PowerPoint-presentation or something?" she asked. "A slideshow is so retro. I hate that."

"Fine, I admit that I can't use PowerPoint!" Fernando yelled from the background.

"Please, Kris, _concentrate_!" Palmer pleaded. "Next slide!"

As Fernando pushed a button, the next picture was projected on the wall. This time, Kris recognized what was in it: the plates of origin. Sixteen rectangles-shape stone tablets of different colors, all only slightly larger than an average human palm. The very same things Kris sold to Palmer.

"I'm sure you know what these are," Palmer said, "but have you ever stopped to consider what they _do_?"

"No," Kris said honestly.

Her curiosity was piqued. Indeed, everyone seemed to think that the plates were highly important, ready for people to risk their lives over, sought out by people for millions of poké-dollars. But for what?

"Namely, they boost the power of attacks of different types," Palmer lectured, "but there is more to it, it's just not common knowledge. All of them, especially the main trifecta - the Draco Plate, the Iron Plate and the Splash Plate - are also incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands. They have known to cause mental corruption in people who spend too much time near them, they have even made the powers of nature bend to them, and yet researchers have only concluded that they're just little stone blocks."

"But when all the plates are combined," Palmer continued, getting more and more excited as he spoke, "and placed into slots at the Spear Pillar, have the power to summon a mythical beast from the skies. The creature revered as the creator of the universe, the god of all Pokémon-"

"-Arceus," Kris finished Palmer's sentence.

Palmer just nodded and smiled. Thinking he had said enough to impress Kris, Palmer walked back behind his desk and sat down, but wasn't finished just yet. Fernando put the lights back on and turned the projector off.

Kris was equally excited. She was starting to get it, the big picture. No wonder people were all so excited about the plates. Arceus, man, holy crap! Kris briefly entertained herself with a scenario in her mind where she captured the Arceus. She imagined herself riding on it, flying through cities, telling it to blast everyone with bolts of lightning, causing everyone to turn into piles of goo…

_Take that! Fry 'em, Arceus! That's it! Run from me! Scream for me! You, run faster! You, run slower! Mwahahahahaa!_

"Uh, Kris? Kris… Kris!"

Palmer snapped his fingers under Kris' nose, dragging her away from her dream sequence. She cleared her throat in embarrassment.

"Yes, clearly this is important," she said.

"I knew you'd understand," Palmer said. "While I hold the plates now, it's only a matter of time before someone tries to summon Arceus some other way and turn the tides of this war. Someone like, say Giovanni and Team Plasma."

"Giovanni himself owned the plates for quite some time," Fernando explained. "But he only learned of their true importance _after_ he had sold them, which royally pissed him off. I imagined that the reason why he allied himself with N and Team Plasma was because he needed men to search the plates."

"And Extranormal Operations, the organization you worked for, had the plates last," Palmer finished. "As such, Team Plasma is hunting you all down."

Kris nodded, but didn't say anything. No comments, no backtalk. She needed to know more.

"I want _you_," Palmer said, "to head to Sinnoh, fight your way through any opposing that Giovanni puts on your way and use the plates to call Arceus from the skies and put an end to all this. But you can't do this alone."

"That shouldn't be a problem," Kris said and pointed at Palmer. "You're a former Tower Tycoon." She pointed at Fernando, who was behind her. "And he's a damn BAMF."

"Why, thank you, Kris," Fernando said, smiled and bowed. "That means a lot, though I don't know what it means…"

"Google it," Kris said impatiently.

"I can't exactly go around racing around the world," Palmer said, his voice calm but stern. "I need to control everything from here, plus I have an adult son already, for heaven's sake. I'm fifty-three years old!"

"Well, you don't look a day over fifty-two," Kris said. "What about him?"

"Ah, Fernando, yes," Palmer said. "I need him to gather more information, and it's good to have field operatives. Look, Kris, you will receive help. I need you to gather a team of specialists. I arranged you two meetings: a Pokémon researcher in Saffron City, Kanto, and another with a legendary Pokémon expert in Ecruteak City, Johto."

"Okay…"

"But additional muscle would be nice," Palmer added, "so before you recruit any of them, head to Orre. I know it's a long way from here, but I contacted a bounty hunter called Wes who lives there. He brags that he can tame and train any wild Pokémon he encounters, and he has a pretty impressive team of six with him, I hear."

"Is that it?" Kris asked impatiently, wanting to get to business immediately. "So I can go now?"

"Well, there is a third-thing that I need done, but I'll tell you about it after you've done assembling the team," Palmer said evasively, moving uncomfortably. "For now, let's just say that there's an important piece of technology that I want to ensure the success of our mission."

"Okay, but can I go?"

"Hang on!" Palmer said just as Kris was about to stand up, so, despite her frustration, Kris sat down again. "I managed to find the whereabouts of one of your old friends from Extranormal Operations."

"Who?" Kris asked excitedly, with Lyra in mind.

"Shane… or at least, I think that was his name," Palmer pondered. "That little blonde guy, bisexual, hangs around with a Sandshrew, not the sharpest bulb in the harbor… or something."

"Oh," Kris said.

She couldn't really mask her disappointment, and all signs of excitement vanished from her face. She didn't really know what to tell Shane - the guy was always a bit… out there. She and him were friends once, sure, but he basically abandoned her in favor of some rich guy…

"He made a full recovery after the explosion, that much we know," Palmer explained, looking at a one of the many files on his desk. "He's currently working at Silph Co. Hmm… which itself is owned by the Committee… but whatever you do, don't come into contact with him."

"So why did you tell me this, then?" Kris wondered.

"Just thought you'd like to know what's what," Palmer replied. "Here," he added and gave Shane's file to Kris.

Kris knew there was something else going on, but also knew that Palmer wouldn't give her an honest answer anyway. For now, she needed to focus on her mission: go to Orre, put team together, take plates to Spear Pillar. Apparently in order to save the world and blah blah blah. Maybe doing that would finally earn Kris the fame and immortality she had always searched...

"So am I going to Orre with one of those teleport-thingies?" Kris asked.

Palmer waved the question away. "Of course not!" he scoffed. "They're insanely expensive, and come in pairs. Put one warp pad to one place and the other into another, and you can travel between them, but that's about it. Actually, I'll get you there by boat. It's leaving tonight from the Olivine City harbor. You should probably go out and wait for the bus."

Kris was honestly expecting something more glamorous, but submitted to her fate anyway. It was nice to get out, even if the weather outside was cold, damp and gray. Kris signaled Croc to follow her and walked to the door. Before she was out of the building, Palmer started talking:

"I'm honestly surprised you didn't ask about the data, Kris," he said.

Kris sighed. What was he talking about now?

"What data?"

"You don't remember?" Palmer asked sheepishly. "The time you sold me the plates wasn't the first time we met. We also had a brief encounter right in Olivine City."

Kris struggled to remember. It was about a year ago… she and Shane were on a mission, they needed to get critical information, stored on a flash drive. They had infiltrated the Olivine Café as workers and stopped Team Plasma from attacking someone… someone who had the data with him… Palmer!

"That was you?" Kris asked. "Small world…"

"It was no coincidence," Palmer said. "That memory stick had info that I could have used to bring down the Committee and stop the war from beginning. But you stole it and delivered it to professor Kaminko. I just happen to know where it's now."

"Where?"

"Stolen by another one of your colleagues, Touko White," Palmer said. "You know her. White cap, brown hair, aggressive attitude, could beat even Fernando at arm wrestling…"

"She could not!" Fernando protested. "I lift weights, like, once a month! Plus I went to the gym once!"

"I remember Touko," Kris said. "Why did she steal it?"

"She protested the way her own organization treated Touya, her boyfriend. She took it right to the International Police, at the same time confessing all the work she had done to professor Kaminko, helping them to arrest him. Problem is, Touko didn't want to go prison herself, so she had the memory stick surgically attached _into_her. For all I know, she still has it, but I don't know where she went. A shame… that data could have helped us a lot."

Palmer took another cigarette from a pack while he finished his monologue:

"Have fun on the desert, Kris," he said. "And watch yourself out there - with both Team Plasma and the Committee's goons after you, it'll be a rough ride."

Kris couldn't help but to feel nervous as she left the building and climbed the stairs to Mahogany's abandoned store, which had the hidden access to the hideout. From there, she stepped into the outside world.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Fishing Boat en route to Orre, somewhere in the middle of the ocean  
>December 2<strong>__**nd**__**, 2099, 7 PM**_

On board the fishing boat, Kris finally managed to get her Pokétch working again, allowing her to see the time and day. Now she was on out on her own again, just her and Croc, on the way to Orre. After an agonizing six-hour long bus trip from Mahogany Town to Olivine City, Kris was bored out of her mind.

She leaned over the side of the boat, watching the water as the boat slowly made its way towards the Orre region. Every once in a while, she could see a Goldeen or a Tentacool swimming by.

_How could the Pokémon just suddenly be hostile against us_, Kris wondered. _What did we do wrong?_

There were three sailors and four fishermen on board, and while they were big, trash-talking, muscle-flexing unhygienic men, they had all been incredibly nice to Kris. Though on occasion, Kris felt that they were a bit too jolly, constantly talking to Kris and yammering on and on about the weather and life as a sailor even though Kris had explicitly stated that he wanted to be alone.

One sailor climbed the stairs on the deck, noticed Kris standing alone and walked to her. Like the others, he was a big, burly man in a sailor suit who had an anchor tattooed to his shoulder and whose arms were thicker than Kris' neck.

"Ahoy, there!" the sailor shouted in a stereotypical manner. "The boys and I have been looking for you! They're having a fight below deck! One of the fishermen told that his Poliwhirl could beat a Machoke that belongs to one of our boys. They might tear a hole to the hull! Come see!"

Kris sighed and didn't even bother to turn around and look at the jolly sailor. Still, she tried to be nice, as she didn't want to burn any bridges.

"That's okay, thanks," she said. "Say, can you tell me how much longer before we get to Orre?"

The sailor smiled and walked next to Kris, leaning over the side as well.

"We're there by this time tomorrow," the sailor replied. "We'll drop you off near Pyrite Town. The port is a few miles away from the town, but don't worry - your friend, Mr. Palmer, paid us to get you all the way there."

"Thank you," Kris said.

There was one thing she was curious about. It felt like she had been there before, at least the name sounded very familiar. She turned to the sailor.

"So, I take it that you've been there before?" she asked and the sailor nodded. "What's it like?"

The sailor shook his head and stopped smiling for a moment. "Terrible," he replied. "There ain't many urban centers there, so most of it is just a desert wasteland. There are criminal gangs everywhere, with barely any law enforcement. Traveling from one town to another is basically death sentence. If you don't get lost in the desert, you'll get mugged and killed by one of the gangs. All navigation equipment seems to break down there…"

"Sounds fun," Kris groaned.

"Yeah, but hey, at least it's always sunny in Orre," the sailor said, sounding cheerful gain. "Why are you going there anyway, if you don't mind me asking?"

Kris was quiet for a moment, trying her best to avoid the truth while still sounding convincing. "Business," she grunted.

The sailor wasn't convinced, but he dropped the subject and started to head under the deck again. Right before he left, he looked at the sky, noticing that the sun was already going down, making the sky appear orange. It was oddly relaxing, as the sound of the fisherman and sailors brawling below deck didn't reach the areas above the deck. Only the sounds of waves crashing, the ship's engine humming and the Wingull screeching were heard.

"It's going to get dark soon," the sailor lamented, but Kris didn't respond. "Uh, you know, life on this boat gets kinda dull. Between work and wrestling with burly men and even burlier Pokémon, there ain't much to do… I'm just saying that… my cabin door is open all night… yeah."

Then the sailor disappeared behind the deck again. Kris raised her eyebrows in confusion, wondering whether she should be flattered or disgusted. Either way, she decided that it would be best to lock her cabin for the night.

But now that no one was around, Kris pulled back her sleeve to operate her Pokétch, a wristwatch-like gizmo that was used all over the Pokémon world. While it had various apps, the most important one was installed during her time in Extranormal Operations. All operatives could use their Pokétch to use Pokémon Powers, a.k.a. moves that their Pokémon had. For example, Kris could use her Pokétch to fire an Ice Beam, provided that she concentrated enough. Her "mental capacity" and "Pokémon synch-level" was measured by a chip installed into her brain, just like with all the other operatives. Besides occasional headaches, Kris had suffered no aftereffects, though she heard that others had it worse…

But right now, Kris wanted to use the Pokétch's built-in Xtransceiver to contact someone. As much as she didn't like the guy she was calling to, he was the only one whom Kris trusted in this.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Meanwhile, at the Silph Co. office building, Saffron City, Kanto**_

Shane, a 24-year old, blue-eyed blonde guy who was even shorter and skinnier than Kris and who looked perpetually confused, was "working" in his cubicle at Silph Co's office. And by "working", we mean that he was playing "Angry Pidgey" with his Pokétch. Once an enthusiast who was into legendary Pokémon and even had a scrapbook for pictures and diary entries for them, Shane was forced to join Extranormal Operations when Kris had called him and told him about it.

The two had been friends for eight years now, having met each other on a field trip and having hated each other ever since. Yet somehow, despite getting into verbal arguments every time they spoke, Kris and Shane shared a connection, an unbreakable friendship. While Shane liked to play clueless, callous and lazy, he had a picture of Kris in his cubicle.

"Lousy supervisor," Shane muttered to himself while playing. "Keep me overtime, will she? I work harder than anyone else in this company! I think… there are no other people working in customer service, though… and no one ever calls me…"

For anyone else, it looked like Shane was talking to himself, but his Sandshrew, called "Shrew", was hiding under his desk. Shrew, like all other Sandshrew, was a small, yellow critter who looked like an armadillo, or perhaps more like a pangolin, with tiny but sharp claws and a dry, hard skin. The difference between Shrew and other Sandshrew was that Shrew was a bit shorter and fatter than the rest of its kind, and that it was a coward. Whenever danger struck, Shrew would curl into a ball or cover its eyes with its little hands. As suspected, it wasn't much of a battler, but Shane loved his Pokémon all the same, even if he never admitted it and mostly just made fun of its cowardice. Not that Shane himself was exactly very brave, or a good battler or anything…

Shane had adopted Shrew from the Lavender Volunteer Pokémon House when no other sane person wanted to give him a Pokémon. But despite his lack of training skill, Shane treated Shrew better than he treated actual people.

"Well, Shrew," Shane said to his Pokémon. "It's seven p.m., and we get off work at ten, so that means…"

Shane stopped talking and started counting with his fingers. After a few minutes, he gave up.

"Bah, it's not important!" he said. "Who needs math anyway? But at least now we have a job, and nothing's gonna change that. I'm gonna grow doing this tedious task, retire and die alone. Yup, that's my future. And it's not gonna change!"

Just as Shane said that, his Xtransceiver started ringing. Confused, he look at the phone on his desk instead, then finally realized where the sound was coming from. He looked at the screen of his Pokétch, but it only said "Caller ID unconfirmed".

Shane pressed a button on his Pokétch and spoke into the microphone, frowning in confusion. "Hello?" he said. "If this is another prank call, I-"

"_Hi, Shane_," a feminine voice on the other end of the line said. "_I hope you haven't forgotten me_."

Shane almost fell off his chair as he recognized the voice. Similarly, Shrew squeaked happily and jumped on Shane's lap to hear the voice better.

"_Kris_?" Shane croaked and looked around him to make sure no one heard anything - the office was empty except for the night-watchmen and the janitor, but still. "Where are you? What are you doing? How-"

"_Save your breath, Shane_," Kris said. "_I can't tell you anything, yet, as much as I want to. More importantly, are you working for Silph now?"_

Frightened, Shane looked around him before answering, as if expecting Kris to suddenly pop in from a ventilation shaft.

"Uh… maybe," he said. "How do you know that? I mean, assuming that it's hypothetically true… Shrew, get off my lap!" he shouted at the Pokémon. "You'll ruin these pants, Silph Co. paid for them!"

"_You're as sharp as always_," Kris said with heavy sarcasm.

"Thanks, Kris," Shane said, sounding genuinely happy. "Now, onto business. Why did you call? Just remember what happened the last time you did it: my life was ruined!"

"_Don't pull that one on me. You and Shrew were living alone in a studio apartment in Viridian City, being unemployed and living in your own filth. Then you got recruited by ExOps, and you had the whole world!_"

"Yes, for a while," Shane said bitterly. "Then it was all taken away, thanks to you. But at least now I have a job. I'm uh… very respected around here. You, boy, bring me coffee!" he shouted to the empty office. "See?"

"_No, I don't, this is voice-only_," Kris said. "_So, what, now you live with Shrew alone in a studio apartment in Saffron?_"

"No," Shane corrected, "it's a _one-bedroom apartment _in Saffron. I'm climbing the social ladder as we speak!"

"_Whatever… look, Shane, let's not argue. I know I've said this before, but… I have no other friends anymore. Do you know anything about the others? Leaf? Silver? Touko? Anyone?_ _All I know is that Elm was thrown into jail_."

"Yeah, I read it on the news," Shane said. He was more relaxed now and leaned back in his chair - he had to admit that he was happy to hear about Kris again. "But I don't know about the others. I'm surprised you didn't mention Lyra. I know you hated her when you first met, but you were pretty close by the end of it. What do you think happened to her?"

"_I… I dunno_," Kris lied. "_How are you holding up, by the way? I heard about Cheren_."

Shane stopped leaning backwards. Mournfully, he sighed and looked at a pair of glasses on his desk, all that was left of him. Shrew tilted its head, trying to read Shane's facial expression.

For a moment, both Kris and Shane were quiet. Eventually, Kris spoke up:

"_But you know he used you, right? He only wanted to date someone who worked for ExOps to bring them down from the inside or something, whatever his master scheme was. He didn't care about you!_"

"Yeah, I guess so…" Shane sighed. "Good work making me feel better, by the way."

"_Shut up_!"

Shane could hear a hint of laughter in Kris' voice, and lightened up himself a bit. Whatever happened with him and Cheren, that was in the past. And Shane's attention span was fairly short anyway. Most of the time, he was like an eight-year old kid on sugar.

"_Seriously, Shane, I didn't call you so we could reminisce. You're in trouble. Tell me, how did you get that job_."

"Funny thing, actually," Shane said, though remembering what happened a few weeks ago was a task to him. "When I got out of the hospital, I was totally lost. I just sat on a bench here in Saffron, trying to teach Shrew circus tricks so we could get some money. Then, these men in suits approached me. I thought they were aliens about to probe me, so I helpfully dropped my pants, and-"

"_You can skip that part, by the way_."

"Oh, right… anyway, they instead said they worked for Silph Co. and wanted to offer me a job, just like that. And… here I am."

"_You didn't think something was going on_?"

"Uh… no. Why should I? I got this easy job and an apartment only a couple of blocks away."

"_Ugh… Shane, open your eyes! Silph Co. is just one of the corporations owned by the Committee. We have valuable technology inside us, remember? They want to keep tabs on us until they figure out a way to kill us but not destroy the chips. I bet you're being monitored right now!_"

"Psh, nice conspiracy theory, Kris!" Shane scoffed. "Next you're trying to tell me that this place is the same UFO that shot JFK and faked the moon landing!"

"_Just keep your guard up. Don't trust anyone. I… I really wish you could join me. I'm going to Orre_."

"Hmm… does that sound familiar to you?"

"_Yeah, I know, it's like I've been in that region before, even though I actually haven't… weird. Anyway, after I've been here, I'm coming to Saffron. Just say the word and I'll get you out of there_."

"No thanks," Shane said. "I've got a life, a job and plenty of Pokéblocks to feed Shrew with," he added, taking a pink out of the bag on his desk and throwing it to Shrew, before eating one himself. "Hey, these ain't bad…"

On the other end, Shane could hear Kris sighing.

"_Okay, Shane, I get it. So… bye, I guess_?"

"What?" Shane asked and took his eyes off the Pokéblock bag. "Sorry, I wasn't listening…"

But then he heard Kris closing her Xtransceiver on the other end, followed by just static. Shane shrugged and turned off his Pokétch before yawning and turning to look at Shrew.

"What a wacko," he said to Shrew. "But I guess she's always been a little paranoid… Shrew, cover for me! I gotta go the bathroom."

As Shane got up and left, a surveillance camera in the ceiling automatically turned to follow him.

_To be continued_...

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes: To clarify, Shane is an original character that appears in my earlier stories. He's a dumbass, because writing from the perspective of a dumbass is always fun. Him and Fernando are basically the only OC's I use in the story. Well, in theory anyway. Also, I changed the summary. I figured this one would give a clearer description of the plot: Kris must do these things or else the world will end. Pretty simple, for now...<em>

_Coming up next: Kris arrives to Orre, meets Wes and battles ensue._


	4. Orre's Cowboys

**Chapter Four: Orre's Cowboys**

_**Location: Pyrite Town, Orre  
>December 3<strong>__**rd**__**, 8 PM**_

Kris' arrival to Pyrite Town did not go unnoticed, even though she kept her Feraligatr concealed in her Poké Ball. The town itself, as Kris was quick to discover, was awful. Hewn out of a large canyon, the town's buildings were build of both wood and stone, all dilapidated and ugly. There were garbage and mining debris everywhere and every once in a while, a strong gust of wind blew sand on everyone, causing much swearing among the inhabitants.

The townspeople of Pyrite were more colorful than the mostly brown and gray town. There were people dressed as pirates, with colorful shirts and bandanas; there were both men and women in cowboy costumes and there were just people in ragged, improvised clothing laying on the streets. No form of law enforcement was around, as Kris was warned, which allowed people to fight Pokémon battles on the streets as much as they desired. Kris walked past two big, burly thugs in pirate outfits, having a Pokémon Battle between a Raticate and an Arbok. As they fought, blood and shreds of skin was flown around but their trainers just pushed them on.

Next, Kris walked past what was apparently the town square, where a large group of townspeople had gathered around. In the middle of them, standing on a box, was a scruffy man in an equally scruffy pinstripe suit holding some sort of speech.

"And, I ask you, where are our supplies?" he yelled at everyone. "The people in Phenac City, the mayor and his team of flunkies, they promised to send us food and water, they promised us building material, they promised us guns, but we get nothing! We cannot protect ourselves any longer, people! When the Pokémon decide to rise to power, don't blame me when a Carnivine is in the process of eating your leg! I say, kill all the Pokémon now, as a pre-emptive strike. Bring all your Pokémon to me, put them in this bag, and you shall be at peace!"

"Get a real job!" someone yelled from the crowd, inciting laughter.

Kris ignored the rest of the scene as she left the town square, walking down the cracked, broken street, searching her destination. As she walked, an enthusiastic young blonde girl, probably a few years younger than Kris, wearing a purple and pink magician outfit (complete with a top hat!), suddenly rushed to her, starting to walk by her side.

"The finest evening to you, ma'am," the magician girl said.

"You one of those street performers or something?" Kris asked rudely without bothering to slow down as she walked.

"Excellently noticed!" the magician girl said smarmily, panting as she tried to keep up with Kris' rapid pace. "You, ma'am, are as smart as you are beautiful!"

Kris stopped and angrily glared at the magician.

"Are you calling me dumb?" Kris asked.

The magician girl nervously stepped backwards. "N-no, ma'am, absolutely not," she stuttered. "The thing is, though, business as a street performer has been a little slow, and I need-"

"I'm not giving you money," Kris stated, then started walking away from the magician again.

But the girl was persistent, having to run after Kris now.

"I'm not asking anything for free!" the magician protested. "I'll let you, the customer, evaluate my skills and decide what to pay! I'm not a bum, after all!"

"Fine," Kris sighed and stopped again. "Let's see what you got."

The magician smiled, nervously mumbled her thanks to Kris, then took off her top hat. She grabbed a wand from her pocket and started to talk in a pretentious, "mystical" voice.

"Ladies and gentlemen," she started, then realized she was only performing to one person. "Uh… lady! I shall demonstrate the power of the Magnificent Diogo! I shall pull a Buneary out of my-"

The magician looked into her hat. With a look of horror on her face, she dropped her wand.

"Buneary!" she screamed. "Shit! Breathe, damn you! I have to go!"

As the magician ran away, Kris picked up the black stick that the magician has used as a wand and put it in her pocket before leaving - she figured that someone would pay good money for that. Then, she continued on walking.

**~o~O~o~**

Eventually, Kris reached her destination: Pyrite Town's infamous bar. Basically, it was just a wooden building resembling a saloon from old Westerns, complete with the batwing doors. Besides that and the drunken shouting and rambling coming from the place, the only way to tell that the place was a bar was a crooked, peeling sign near the entrance that read "BAR", with the 'R' written the wrong way around.

When Kris entered the bar, she didn't see dude in cowboy garment playing poker nor did she hear any jolly piano music. Instead, she just saw a group miscellaneous thugs sitting quietly, sipping drinks from dirty glasses, smoking heavily and throwing peanuts at the hapless Mr. Mime forced to clean vomit off the floor. Kris shook her head at this and walked to the counter, fully realizing that all the patrons in the bar were staring at her.

"Uh… howdy!" Kris said, causing some of the more drunken customers to laugh. Kris wasn't quite sure how to start a sentence in a place like this. "So… any of you guys seen a guy called Wes in here?"

"Maybe I have and maybe I haven't," the surly bartender responded. "Maybe he's been there or not. My memory ain't too good, and a lot of people come here these days, all shapes and sizes. Say, stranger, that's a lot of questions you're asking, and I-"

"Yeah, whatever," Kris interrupted and looked around the bar. "Anyone less stereotypical offering their help to me? No? Fine, just give me a drink!"

"We don't serve to out-of-towners!" the bartender responded, spat into a glass and started "polishing" it with a dirty rag. "Nor we serve to women, or children, or Pokémon, or fat people, or skinny people. And we especially hate the local townspeople! I ain't serving them nothing!"

"Anything," corrected a drunken customer from the table.

"Yeah, I *hic* hate those townspeople," another added from the floor, having collapsed on a pool of his own vomit. "Who do they think they are, living here in our houses, walking on our ground…"

"Then how the hell do you run this place?" Kris asked the bartender.

"That's…" the bartender started with an accusatory tone, pointing at Kris, then paused to think. "Huh," he said. "You're right. Don't make much sense, does it? So, what shall it be, stranger?"

"Just give me the strongest thing you have!" Kris said.

"One Coke Zero coming up!" the bartender replied and walked to the backroom to get a bottle.

As Kris sat on a stool by the counter, she heard the ear-splitting squeaking coming from the doors' hinges. Kris looked behind her, then almost fell off the stool at what she saw:

Four Team Plasma grunts had entered the bar, all in full uniform, something which was not practical in the desert. Leading them was a woman with blue eyes and curly, blonde hair whom Kris was unhappy to recognize: Domino, someone whom Kris had met earlier. She was working for the Committee then, but the woman was just a mercenary working for the highest bidder, and a complete psychopath at that.

Unlike the Team Plasma grunts she was commanding, Domino wore a rather revealing cowgirl outfit, with a red hat, a checkered shirt, a leather vest, white gloves, a short skirt and white knee-high boots. She even had a six-shooter with her, along with her trusty weapon: the electrified black tulip. Even if she was not in uniform, Domino liked to look her flashiest, contrasting the scruffy, hygiene-neglecting Kris.

Kris tried to raise the collar of her jacket to hide her face and quickly turned to face the counter again, hoping that Domino wouldn't recognize her. Domino just stood in the doorway, surrounded by the Plasma Grunts, keeping her hand ready on the revolver and simultaneously chewing gum and looking arrogant.

"Good evening to y'all!" Domino introduced herself, loudly enough for everyone in the bar to hear. "Just calm down, and no one needs to be harmed."

But one of the drunken customers, a big, drunken guy wearing a red bandana and a sleeveless shirt, apparently didn't hear this advice, as he stumbled towards Domino.

"Hey!" the drunk shouted. "We don't take orders from out-of-towners! Who the hell do you think you are?"

"Oh, no one in particular," Domino said casually and shrugged. She grabbed the black tulip attached to her chest and held it in front of the drunk. "You wanna smell my flower?" she asked temptingly.

Without waiting for a response, Domino jammed the tulip in the drunk's face. Kris averted her eyes from the sight, but heard the drunk's ear-piercing scream, then a loud thud as the drunk fell down with smoke pouring out of his head.

"This is what happens when people are not calm," Domino explained, still in the same calm tone as if she hadn't just killed a man. "I'm here to ask a question. A certain lady, an out-of-towner, appeared here recently. If you could help me locate her, it would be much appreciated."

Without hesitation, all the customers in the bar and even bartender pointed at Kris, who sighed despondently. She grabbed the glass full of Coke Zero that the bartender was about to give her and turned around in her chair, facing Domino and her henchmen. At the same time, everyone else in the bar quickly escaped, running through the doors and even jumping through the windows, just to avoid the ensuing conflict.

Domino snapped her fingers and walked to Kris, all the while smiling arrogantly. Kris just stared down at her. The hand she used to hold her glass was shaking, but Kris tried her best to cover that.

"Oh, hi, Domino!" Kris greeted and took a sip of her drink. "You remembered me, I see. What brings you to Pyrite Town? Oh, nice outfit by the way!"

Domino placed her hands on her hips and smirked.

"Thanks," she replied, just as casually as Kris. "Not the most comfortable, I know, but hey, you gotta look your best, even when killing dudes."

"I wouldn't know about that," Kris said and shrugged. "And I was being sarcastic, in case that didn't occur to you. I mean, you can't probably even bend over in that getup! Not that it probably stops you from doing it to everyone you meet anyway…"

Kris stood up and started walking around the bar. Domino and the four Plasma Grunts followed her with their eyes. Kris just looked out of the window nonchalantly, but was also constantly going over strategies in her mind.

"So, who's holding the leash today, Domino?" Kris asked. "Judging by your friends' outfits, it seems to be N. Funny, though, I always thought the guy wasn't into chicks, but then again, I don't know anything about this…"

Domino crossed her arms, but still kept smiling and was completely unfazed by Kris' comments.

"I don't hide what I do," she answered. "Plus things can be done faster when you have… _assets_."

The way Domino put weight on the last word, plus the way she thrust her chest forwards told enough. Next to the curvy Domino, the rather flat Kris didn't really look much. _What a low blow_, Kris thought as she looked at her own chest.

"Anyway," Domino continued, "you heard me earlier: no need for bloodshed. The bosses want you alive. Now, you can either come with us or we can drag you out. Your choice."

Kris paused to pretend to weigh the options; in reality, she looked around her. The door behind the counter could be used to escape, but only if Kris got there fast enough and if the bartender hadn't locked as he fled. Besides that, there was only the entrance and a single, shattered window.

_I have to buy some time…_

"Hmm…" Kris pondered. "Can you guys give me a few minutes to think?"

Domino laughed and walked right in front of Kris, being only inches away from her. She had the black tulip ready in her hand, close enough for Kris to smell it.

"Let's do it the hard way, then," Domino said cheerfully.

Two Plasma Grunts wearing thick rubber gloves grabbed Kris by the arms, one from the left and one from the right, and before Kris could wriggle out of their grip, Domino stabbed her in the shoulder with the electrified tulip.

The tulip only grazed Kris, but still gave her a shock powerful enough to bring her down to her knees. She opened her mouth to scream in pain, but no voice came out. For an excruciatingly long second, Kris felt like every part of her body was on fire as the current flowed through her.

Then it stopped, and Kris was on her knees in front of Domino, gasping for breath.

"You can hurt someone in many, _many_ ways without killing them," Domino explained while cheerfully smiling and holding her tulip up. "Now, had I kept it on you for longer of if I had _really_stabbed you with it… there wouldn't be much to take to the boss. Are you coming with us now?"

Still panting and trying to catch her breath, Kris nodded. Domino snapped her fingers and the Plasma Grunts let go of Kris.

"You know;" Kris said. "On second thought…"

Domino stopped smiling, looking puzzled for a split second.

Suddenly, Kris punched Domino in the stomach. As Domino doubled over in pain, Kris quickly punched her in the face, knocking her down on the floor. The Plasma Grunts attempted to grab her again, but Kris readied her Pokétch.

"Watch out!" Domino yelled from the floor, pinching her blood-smeared nose.

But the warning came too late: Kris fired an Ice Beam from her Pokétch, hitting the other Plasma Grunt in the face. His head coated in ice, the grunt fell down instantly. Another Grunt approached Kris from behind, but Kris quickly dodged his attack and fired an Ice Beam on his feet, then pushed him to tip him over. At the same time, the two other grunts had opened their Poké Balls, sending two Scrafty after Kris.

Avoiding the attacks of the two strange-looking, bipedal lizards, Kris jumped behind the bar's counter, taking cover from the attacks. Confidently, she tossed her own Poké Ball at the Plasma Grunts.

Croc, Kris' fierce Feraligatr, attacked the two Scrafty with its own Ice Beam the moment it popped out of the Poké Ball. The two Scrafty tried to get close enough to attack, but Croc repelled them away with its claws and its tail. After knocking out the other Scrafty, it grabbed the other one and hurled it at the two Plasma Grunts, knocking them on the floor as well. All enemies had been beaten, so Kris dared to stand up again, away from her cover.

"Run!" she yelled at Croc. "I'll catch up with you!"

Croc obeyed, as it was too heavy to get anywhere quickly. Kris made he way to the door, but stopped next to Domino, who was still holding her face as she was writhing on the ground. Domino had dropped her tulip and her gun right next to her, but Kris resisted the temptation. Instead, she just kicked Domino in the ribs before leaving, getting a satisfying grunt of pain from her.

But right at the saloon's door, knowing that the danger was over, Kris turned around arrogantly, wanting to get the last word.

"And let that be a lesson for you!" she yelled, watching Domino and her henchmen lay helplessly on the ground. "Never mess with K-"

Suddenly, the saloon door was swung open. As Kris was standing next to it, it hit her in the face, causing her to fall on her ass as well. But whoever had opened the door didn't notice.

"Never fear, ma'am!" proclaimed the man who had stepped in. "Wes is here to rescue you!"

Kris, whose nose was as bloody as Domino's when the door had struck her, raised her head to see the man. Wes not as Kris had expected - she thought that she would have seen another skinny, teenaged bishonen guy, but instead, Wes was a tall, rugged man whose appearance reminded Kris of Shane, if he were bigger and less childish-looking. Like Shane, Wes had blonde hair and blue eyes, but he also had scars and a bit of a stubble. His blonde hair was also cleaner and less messy than Shane's. He wore a cowboy hat, a long brown coat apparently made of deerskin, and leather gloves. His coat was open enough to show six Poké Balls on his belt.

"Word 'round the town was that someone came here lookin' for me!" Wes said, talking loudly and extravagantly. "A _lady_, I might add."

Then Wes paused for a moment to look at the destruction around the bar, with bits of glass and wood all over, not to mention the unconscious and otherwise wounded people on the floor.

"Whoa there!" he said, reaching for the Poké Balls on his belt. "Even this place doesn't look like this, except on weekends. Could one of you booze-jockeys people on the floor tell me where my rescue…e is?"

"Shut up for a moment!" Kris yelled from the corner and stood up.

Wes just noticed her and politely raised his felt Stetson while he measured Kris with his eyes. Wes frowned a bit when he saw Kris' bloody nose.

"So, you're, uh… the girl?" he asked, sounding a bit disappointed. "Well, never you worry, little miss, Wes is here to protect you. Word is that some of them damn Plasmas are comin', so we better high-tail it fast!"

"Yeah, I'm Kris. Thanks for the rescue," Kris deadpanned. "Why don't you get out and come back a few minutes earlier so you can actually be of use?"

Wes didn't seem to understand, so Kris pointed at the unconscious and near-unconscious Plasma Grunts and Domino on the floor and Wes finally got it.

"Ah, I see!" he said. "Well, it looks like I got here in the nick of time, then. Did they do that to you?" Wes added, pointing at Kris' nose.

"Nah," Kris said and wiped the blood on her sleeve. "I got hit by some dumbass cowboys' ego. Clearly it couldn't fit the room…"

Wes smiled and nodded, looking (and being) clueless. Suddenly, he quickly turned around and almost jumped in place as he saw Domino move on the ground. Domino's hand was reaching for her gun, but Wes reacted quickly and kicked it away.

With the gun out of reach, Domino grabbed her tulip instead.

"Look out!" Kris shouted and pulled Wes backwards, away from Domino.

But Wes just laughed arrogantly and stepped in front of Kris, spreading his arms to protect her from Domino.

"Oh, thanks!" Wes chuckled. "That dangerous _flower_could have dropped petals on me or something! Ooh, the horror!"

Domino kept her tulip ready, looking absolutely murderous. Her face, hands and some of her hair was smeared by her own blood, and she was glowering up at Wes from beneath lowered brows, grimacing frighteningly. Wes was undeterred.

"No need for panic, I'm here now, little lady!" Wes said patronizingly at Kris, then threw a Poké Ball on the ground. "Espeon, go!"

Wes' chosen Pokémon, Espeon, was one of Eevee's many evolutions. It was cat-like, with lavender-colored fur, a forked tail and a glowing red gem on its forehead.

"Take her down, Espeon!" Wes ordered. "Nice and easy!"

Wes' Espeon lunged at Domino, but Domino didn't even try to dodge, just stabbed Espeon with the black tulip. The electric shock instantly knocked Espeon unconscious, causing it to fall down on its belly mid-air. Shocked, Wes recalled his Pokémon.

"'Kay, I'm sensing that this is gonna be more difficult than I thought," Wes muttered. "Any ideas?" he asked Kris.

"RUN!" Kris screamed in response.

As Domino was about to shock Wes with the tulip, Kris and Wes ran out the saloon doors, rushing behind the bar where Croc was waiting. Together. all three fled the town. They ran deep into the desert, far away from Pyrite Town.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: The desert, somewhere in Orre**_

Wes climbed on another dune, followed lazily by Kris and Croc.

"I know I've been here once!" Wes shouted. "I reckon we ought to head over… there!"

Currently, Kris and Wes were surrounded by the endless desert. Wherever one looked, there was just sand and the scorching sun above them. Wearing a thick jacket and gloves didn't seem to bother Wes, who energetically jumped around, constantly looking for landmarks and claiming that he 'knew where to go'.

Kris had to start walking a bit faster to keep up with Wes' pace. She wiped some sweat off her forehead before talking to Wes:

"So," she said. "You want to know why I came for you?"

"Palmer explained the whole deal already," Wes replied. "He told me about you, too. He said you were pretty badass, but _damn_! You took those Plasma dudes out clean!"

"Oh…"

Kris was pleasantly surprised by this - not just by the fact that someone had called her 'badass', which couldn't be farther from the truth, but also that Wes had appreciated her skill.

For a moment, both Kris, Wes and Croc walked in the desert in complete silence.

"Thanks, I guess…" she finally replied, unable to think of anything sarcastic or mean-spirited to say. "Uh… so you know what the deal is?"

"Pretty much," Wes said. "I've got the skills you need to save the world from… something. I didn't really ask about the details - all I know is that Palmer is paying me a helluva lot for this! He didn't need to ask twice."

"This is going to be dangerous," Kris warned.

Wes smirked.

"All the better," he said. "How well do you know that Palmer guy, anyway?"

"I have met him a grand total of two times," Kris sighed. "All I know is what he told me: that he is the leader of some secret society that wants to bring peace or whatever."

"Well I _have_ met him earlier," Wes proclaimed. "And I ain't trusting him. I better warn ya, no matter how much he claims to look out for our best interests, don't buy it, a'ight? I mean, he's just pushing you around!"

"All right, all right," Kris said. "He's a bit shady, but it's not like I have anything else to do…"

Wes stopped walking and stopped Kris on his tracks as well. To Kris' surprise, he swiftly pulled Kris face to face with him, looking angry.

"That's a load of bull, Kris!" Wes protested. "There must be something you want to do yourself! A dream or somethin' or other, you can tell me."

Kris felt uncomfortable in Wes' grip, but Wes quickly let her go. The two started walking again, but Wes still looked at Kris, expecting an answer, leading Kris to nervously rub the back of her neck.

"Well," she said quietly, looking away from Wes as she said it, "when I was a kid… and even long after that, I always wanted to be the Pokémon League Champion. I really admired them… still do, in fact! Lance, Steven, Wallace, Cynthia, Alder, all of 'em…"

"So you want to be the best Pokémon Trainer in the region?" Wes said teasingly. "Or in the world? At least you aim high, Kris, I can tell you that. How are you expecting to become Champion with just one Pokémon, tho'?"

Wes pointed at Croc, who was walking a few feet behind Kris and Wes, its tongue hanging out as it panted in exhaustion. Kris suddenly remembered that Croc wasn't really cut out for dry enviroments, so she quickly recalled it to its Poké Ball.

"It's the only one I have _so far_," Kris snapped at Wes, rolling her eyes sarcastically but smiling as she said it. "I just haven't had the chance to catch more… unlike you. I mean, you have six already."

"Yup, and we've had some pretty cool adventures, I tell you!" Wes announced proudly. "Now that I asked the mandatory questions, I'm free to tell you about all the great stuff we have done in he years. So…"

Kris yawned, but Wes seemed to catch on to Kris' sarcasm, as he just smiled at that. Suddenly, he seemed to remember something, but still kept on walking.

"Palmer didn't tell you about our arrangement, did he?" Wes asked.

Kris squinted at Wes. "I knew there had to be catch," she muttered. "What arrangement?"

"I'll tell you once we get to my house," Wes said as he looked into the horizon. There was nothing but sand wherever Kris looked, but she had to trust on Wes' navigational abilities. "Before we get there, I can tell you about the time I saved Orre for the third time! Say, walking around under the hot sun like this kinda makes me thirsty…"

"_Really_?" Kris deadpanned.

"You didn't happen to bring any water, did you?"

Kris stopped walking all of the sudden as she just stared at Wes, but he apparently wasn't joking this time. Kris quickly went through her pockets, but when she found nothing, she groaned loudly:

"Aww, crap!"

* * *

><p><em>Author's Notes: So, Wes. The main character of Pokémon Colosseum. Obviously I made him look a lot different from that game, but I liked the result. I kinda imagined him dressing similarly as Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly. Wes is going to stick around for the rest of the story (mostly), but never fear, more aspects of his personality and backstory will be revealed as time goes on and so on.<em>

_Coming up next: Kris and Wes kick ass around Orre when Team Snagem, Cipher and other less-than-wholesome people get in their way. Action, snarky dialogue and much more to come!_


	5. In The Desert

**Chapter Five: In The Desert**

_**Location: The desert, somewhere in Orre… still.**_

The sun was down, and according to Kris' Pokétch, it was 11:57 p.m., but Kris and Wes continued to be lost in the desert. Wes refused to admit that he was capable of getting lost, but eventually agreed that the two should make camp. As nights in the desert were described as Kris to be "cold as (_bleep_)", Kris and Wes were currently shivering outside, making futile attempts to get some sleep.

Kris and Wes were separated by the campfire they had made. While Kris constantly kept turning around and trying to find the best position, Wes just slept on his back, his cowboy hat covering his face. As Kris couldn't get any sleep, she decided that no one else should either.

"Psst, Wes!" she said. "You awake?"

"No," Wes responded lazily.

"Whatever. Just stop… breathing so much. I can't get any sleep!"

Wes sighed and took the cowboy hat off his face, then turned to face Kris.

"Y'know, Kris," he said, "Palmer didn't mention anything about your personality. I can see why not."

"I'm well aware of my own obnoxiousness," Kris said. "And… I'm trying. Okay?"

"Righty-o!" Wes said and attempted a smile, but Kris just buttoned her jacket even tighter. "You know, if you're that cold, we can, uh… I mean, there's room under my coat for two…"

"Let me consider that for a moment," Kris said and immediately added: "Nope!"

"Well, I can understand if you're seeing someone else," Wes said diplomatically, but still trying to break the ice a bit. "So… are you?"

"In my case, just remember these three simple words," Kris stated. "I don't ever."

"Is that proper grammar?" Wes wondered out loud, then shook his head. "Anyway… you don't ever? _Never ever_?"

"Never did it and most likely never are going to," Kris said plainly, without any bitterness or sorrow. "Maybe sometimes when I'm alone but… besides that, never. I don't know why. It just is so. No right person for it, I guess."

Kris started leaning on her hands and turned to look at Wes over the campfire.

"Now that we're talking," she said, "do _you_have any fascinating tales about your love life? Dirty details or somesuch?"

"You mean, have I had any women?" Wes asked teasingly, as if Kris hadn't made it any more obvious. "Oh, certainly. Tons. They practically line up! But, uh… there is one special case…"

Wes stopped smiling as he started reminiscing. He also stopped looking at Kris and instead looked at the sky and the countless starts twinkling above them. Kris noticed that Wes' voice changed too, as if he wasn't telling the story to anyone but himself.

"There is this one girl," he said quietly. "Or… there _was_this one girl. You know how I told you about my agreement with Palmer? Well, in return for working for the fella, I wanted him to send help to take down the Committee, or as much as I can, m'self."

"Why?" Kris wondered.

When Wes spoke next, he looked almost melancholy. He started to lay on his back again, using his hat as a pillow.

"Years ago, I was actually working for Team Snagem," Wes explained. "They're a local band of criminals here. Petty thieves, mostly. I know, it's hard to believe, but I was down on my luck then. I was not a good Pokémon Trainer… I only had an Eevee that couldn't fight squat. But then a special branch of the Committee approached me, and I met the girl… Rui. She didn't have no Pokémon of her own, but… she had a way with 'em, like she could handle any Pokémon she wanted to. She helped me to get out of my crummy life, helped me fight my self-pity. Me and Rui worked for the Committee and destroyed one of Team Snagem's most important bases."

"I was… so happy with her. She was tougher than me, more intelligent than me, she knew more people than me… all of our friends were _her _friends but I didn't mind… as we helped the Committee to 'save' Orre from Team Snagem and got virtually nothing for it, we finally decided to stop and try to settle down. Big mistake."

Kris listened to Wes' story intently, staring at his face constantly as Wes spoke and reminisced his story with surprising clarity.

"You don't just leave your post at the Committee," Wes said sadly. "They won't let you. Here's how it worked: I told the Committee I was leaving, the next morning, Rui was found dead. I should have seen that coming! I should have… but I didn't… but what they don't know is that I have incriminating evidence against them! And I am going to find out who was responsible for Rui's death… and I'll kill them myself!"

Kris was quiet for a while, prompting Wes to raise his head again and look at Kris, as if to ask what she felt about the story. Instead of offering any consolation, Kris seemed to focus on another detail entirely.

"How is it," she said, "that in these stories, it's always a girl who gets killed just to prompt a _male _character to get revenge! Why can't it ever be the other way around? Do the people who make stories think that only men can be heroes and women are just throwaway characters?"

"What the hell are you talking about, Kris?" Wes snarled, sounding offended. "This isn't a story - this is what happened to me!"

"Oh yeah, right, I'm sorry," Kris said, stretched her arms, yawned and turned on her back again in hopes of getting some sleep. "Anyway, cool story, bro."

Wes stared at Kris for a while, perhaps expecting a bit more empathy, then scoffed and grabbed one of the Poké Balls on his belt. When he opened it, a loud noise accompanied a red flash of light as a Pokémon came out. Kris turned around to see what Pokémon Wes had unleashed.

It was a Ninetales, a graceful, fox-like Pokémon with elegant golden-white fur. Wes only had to nod at it, and the Ninetales' tails wrapped itself around Wes to keep him warm. Kris frowned at this, but hid it from Wes.

"Damn showoff," she muttered and reached for her own Poké Ball. "Get out, Croc!"

The Feraligatr started flexing its limbs and snapping its teeth the moment it got out from the ball, but was disappointed to see that there were no enemies to battle.

"Croc, I'm cold," Kris complained. "Do something about that. Like that Ninetails over there."

Croc looked at where Kris pointed, then seemed to change all of the sudden. Its tongue started hanging, as if it was panting, even though it wasn't hot at all. It made a strange growling sound, like it was trying to communicate with the Ninetails, but the fox Pokémon just turned away from it.

Kris looked at Croc, then at the Ninetails, and was perplexed for a moment. Then, she grabbed Croc's tail just as it was trying to approach the Ninetails.

"Oh no you don't!" Kris said. "Not… now. I know you, uh, _talked_ to Yellow about this, but… no! Not with _that guy's_Pokémon."

Wes raised the cowboy hat off his face and leaned on his Ninetales' fluffy, warm tail, looking amused as he watched the struggle of Kris and her huge, child-minded bipedal crocodile.

"No need to diss my mons, Krissy," Wes said, causing Kris to cringe. "It is said that they reflect their owners. I always that it was some New Age nonsense, but your lil' Feraligatr seems to prove me wrong…"

Unable to argue any of Wes' other points, Kris decided to cling on the irrelevant ones: "Lil' Feraligatr?" she said. "What is your definition of 'little'?"

"Psh! In Orre, even the Skitty are huge. In Orre, we have _microbes_as big as your Feraligatr. Maybe you haven't been feeding it enough?"

"Yeah, maybe you're right," Kris said while clenching her teeth. "Say, Feraligatr, want a snack? Try out that cowboy dude over there!"

Wes laughed nervously and pulled his cowboy hat on his face again, but nevertheless used Ninetales' tail to cover himself better.

"Well, Croc?" Kris said. "Keep me warm, okay?"

The Feraligatr shrugged and obediently sat on Kris to keep her warm. Fortunately, it was smart enough to get up before crushing any of Kris' bones as she kept shouting underneath the crocodile. Wes' empathetic response to this was to laugh at Kris before turning over.

This night wasn't going to end anytime soon…

**~o~O~o~**_  
><em>

In the morning, Kris and Wes managed to get a drink when Croc supplied them with water. Wes thought that the Feraligatr had found an oasis while Kris was certain that it had conjured whatever was _inside _it… still, better to drink crocodile spit than to die of dehydration.

Next, after Kris and Wes had recalled their Pokémon, they started walking towards Wes' house again. After a seemingly endless trek consisting of sweating, panting and a lot of bad language exchanged between Kris and Wes, the duo finally arrived to Wes' house.

It was just a run-down shack next to an oasis, between two palm trees. Everywhere else one looked, there was just desert. How on earth did Wes survive out there in the middle of nowhere was beyond Kris, but she decided not to ask - he would just start bragging about it.

Inside the shack, there was practically nothing: a dusty old bed, some chairs, a table and a fridge. The windows were so dirty that it was impossible to see out, so the shack was illuminated by a flickering lamp on the ceiling.

"Solar panels on the roof," Wes answered to the unvoiced question, pointing at the lamp. "I've been meaning to fix them, so the lamp wouldn't flicker, but… meh. Don't wanna seem like a try-hard."

"Right," Kris proclaimed sarcastically.

Wes threw his cowboy hat on the floor and collapsed on the bed, forming a big dust cloud as he did it. Apparently, no one had slept on the bed for weeks. He then started to mess around with his light blonde hair, perhaps involuntarily, to make it look like messier than it actually was.

"There's room here for two," Wes said lecherously while patting the sheets. More dust flew in the air when Wes touched the bed. "Well, there isn't, really, but you can be on top and-"

"Does that ever actually work?" Kris wondered and raised an eyebrow at Wes' antics.

Wes didn't answer, he just smiled and looked unfazed. In response to Wes' little request, Kris pulled one of the hard chairs around the table and sat on it. Wes grabbed a PokéGear from his pocket and started fiddling with it.

"So, what are we doing out here?" Kris asked.

"Hold on!" Wes snapped while attempting to use the PokéGear's online features. "Damn this thing! I'm no tech freak, I can tell you that, so I don't use much of these gizmos. Human ingenuity is what got me this far!"

"Your Pokémon didn't have anything to do with that?" Kris asked scathingly.

"Nah, if it wasn't for my natural awesomeness as a trainer, they wouldn't be what they are today," Wes said semi-seriously without taking his eyes off the PokéGear. "Man, this is taking so long…"

"Can't you just give me the rundown?" Kris pleaded. "I want to get this over with so you can join me and we can keep building this team of specialists or whatever."

"Fine," Wes said.

He got up and started walking back and forth in the shack, constantly staring at his PokéGear screen while explaining the situation to Kris, who was rather amazed that Wes could walk, talk _and_look at his PokéGear at the same time.

"All those years ago, when those Committee bastards paid me to take out those Snagem fools," Wes explained, "turns out they just wanted to have their own junta here to dominate the underworld or somesuch. These guys call themselves Cipher - they're the worst that humanity has to offer, turnin' Pokémon into these weird, dark monstrosities. There's very little natural wildlife, Kris, so all mons are imported goods. Cipher thinks they can easily control the Pokémon populace to keep the humans in line. I wouldn't put it past them to make some kind of, uh… _virus_ to make shadow people, either. Like, y'know, one of them zombies you see in the films and such?"

Kris tried to keep up with Wes' rambling, though the only part that was interesting to her was the mention of zombie movies. In her mind, Kris started imagining a zombified Jigglypuff munching on its unsuspecting victims, and couldn't decide whether that was scary or hilarious.

"Kris!"

Wes snapped Kris out of her thoughts and Kris frowned a bit - she really felt out of touch with reality now. "Yes?" Kris asked innocently, pretending to have listened. "Go on."

"Uh, well, anyway," Wes continued, "Palmer has been tracking this one guy who surely works for Cipher. Probably a leader or something. We need to go and ask a few questions from him…"

Wes paused for a bit, crouched and pulled something from under his bed. It was a revolver, decorated with engravings that Kris couldn't quite make out. He aimed it at a coffee cup on the table, dangerously close to Kris.

"…gently, of course," Wes finished.

Kris rolled her eyes at this. "You don't need that gun," she said, "at least, according to yourself. What happened to your, whole 'I'm a great Pokémon trainer and I don't suffer from crippling emotional problems or hemorrhoids, unlike you' shtick?"

"When did I ever say…" Wes paused for a bit and shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter. My Pokémon are top notch, _obviously_, but they sometimes…"

Wes paused again, as if searching for the right word. Kris continued to stare at him, but Wes wouldn't elaborate further, he just checked his PokéGear again.

"Look, I'll tell you my plan once I get there," Wes said impatiently. "You just need to back me up. Think you can do that?"

Kris stopped and bit her lip. How dangerous was this going to be? Kris only had Croc, and as strong as it was, it was also slow, a big target and unsuitable for fighting at the desert. Would she still have time to train a Dugtrio or a Baltoy real quick? What if Wes could get himself killed because of her? _Way _too much pressure, which made Kris' stomach hurt just thinking about it.

But she had to act confident. Just so she could say 'I told you so' later on.

"Of course I can," Kris said with fake confidence. "Uh… didn't you see what happened to those Team Plasma guys when they tried to get me?"

"Pfft! They're just some hippie group from Unova!" Wes scoffed and waved his revolver around recklessly. "They wouldn't have been a match for Orreans… Orreanites… Orre people… whatever. No match for me. Did I tell you the time I-"

Mercifully, Kris was spared from another tale of bravery when Wes' PokéGear beeped. Wes looked at it, suddenly looking very passionate. He stormed out if his house in a huff, and Kris followed suit, shielding her eyes from the scorching sun.

"This is it!" Wes exclaimed and looked around him, holding the PokéGear at his eye level. "Nascour, the guy that Palmer has been tracking, has been spotted in a canyon not too far from here, only about seven miles or so. We need to go!"

"_How_?" Kris asked, crossing her arms and looking at Wes expectantly. "It took us almost a day just to get here, in case this heat fried your memory, too."

But Wes just looked at his PokéGear, as if he was in a world of his own, going through his pockets with another hand. He took out a shrunken Poké Ball and pressed a button on it, enlarging it to its usual size. Kris rolled her eyes. _Looks like the frying already happened_…

"Don't be silly, Kris," Wes finally replied and kissed his Poké Ball for good luck. "I got us some transportation."

Wes opened his Poké Ball, and a Pidgeot popped up - the bird with long and magnificent red and gold feathers sticking from its head-crest was big enough to carry both of them. Kris was relieved, but also annoyed at Wes.

"So, you didn't care to mention that you had a Pidgeot before," she said scathingly as Wes climbed on Pidgeot's back. "When the sun almost mummified us just a while ago when we were running around, looking for your house, you know."

"Hey, it had to save its strength!" Wes said defensively and patted his Pidgeot on the head gently. "Planning is half the battle!"

"I thought knowing was," Kris wondered. "So if planning is the other half, then where does the actual battling come in…?"

Wes winked at Kris. "Just leave that part to me," he announced, pointing at himself with his revolver, which made Kris cringe. Wes reached out to Kris and offered his hand. "Now climb up!"

Kris was uncertain - she hadn't exactly been riding on bird Pokémon much, but Wes seemed confident enough. She allowed Wes to pull her up and sat on Pidgeot's back, uncomfortably close to Wes. Kris was wondering where exactly to hold on to, as Pidgeot wouldn't probably appreciate if Kris grabbed its tail feathers…

"So, uh, what do you call this Pidgeot?" Kris asked, trying not to sound as nervous as she was.

"Uh… Pidgeot," Wes simply said and looked at Kris over his shoulder like Kris was asking if water was wet.

"Really?" Kris replied. "No nicknames? How boring…"

Wes ignored Kris' comment. "Giddyup!" Wes shouted at the Pidgeot and kicked the bird's ribs, perhaps needlessly hard.

Pidgeot squawked and spread its wings, which smacked Kris across her face, almost causing her to fall. Dazzled, she grabbed to the closest thing there was, which happened to be Wes. Since Kris wasn't suicidal (yet), she decided to hold on to Wes for the remainder of the flight.

Wes just smiled to himself, feeling Kris arms wrapped around him, and sat on Pidgeot's back casually without holding on to anything.

The Pidgeot started flapping its wings, then suddenly leapt into the air. Kris held on as tight as he could, ignoring the fact that she was almost suffocating Wes. Pidgeot's flying, with the way it rocked dangerously and how its wings flapped all around them, was very uncomfortable. But a little later, Kris was slowly getting used to it. Pidgeot's speed wasn't tremendous and the wind on Kris' face felt great after all the sweating she had done on the desert.

"Keep your eyes peeled!" Wes shouted over his shoulder, his voice partly drowned by the wind. "Won't be long until we reach this Mr. Nascour!"

**~o~O~o~**_  
><em>

About ten to fifteen minutes later, Kris was still flying, and had now gotten used to it. She was still holding on to Wes, but not as tightly now as she admired the view around her. Sure, it wasn't great, what with just rocks and sand everywhere, but the way Kris was high in the air made her feel like she could go wherever she wanted, like she was a free person for once in her life. She started to love flying, being slightly jealous that Wes could do this every day if she wanted.

"There!" Wes shouted suddenly, startling Kris.

Kris looked down where Wes was pointing at. Two black cars, the other being a truck, were driving down the only road in Orre, suspiciously in the middle of nowhere. They started slowing down near a place completely surrounded by tall, jagged rocks, like some sort of plaza in the middle of the desert. But there was nothing there, making things even more suspicious. The cars looked like toys, the way Kris and Wes flew over them.

"Cipher!" Wes shouted to Kris. "Pidgeot, start landing! Try not to get in their field of vision. Use the sun!"

Pidgeot acknowledged this by starting to slow down, flapping its wings more slowly and infrequently. Then, Kris could feel the Pidgeot starting to descend more steeply, making her nauseous. Pidgeot started to fly down, its break facing the ground, in an almost forty-five degree angle. Kris wondered how she and Wes hadn't fallen out already.

_Too fast_, Kris thought.

But despite the speed and the way Kris felt like she was in a freefall, Pidgeot landed gracefully. Moments before it hit the ground, it straightened itself and landed on its feet.

The moment the Pidgeot landed, Kris became limp and fell off the bird, almost embracing the ground beneath her.

Wes, on the other hand, jumped off Pidgeot's back with surprising agility and smiled at Kris. "I thought you liked that flying," he said.

"Yeah, but the landing, not so much," Kris said dizzily. She was starting to get a grip already, so she carefully stood up, her legs shaking a bit.

Wes recalled his Pidgeot so it wouldn't be seen by Cipher. Together, Wes and Kris then climbed on the jagged rocks. Wes constantly was offering to help Kris, but she refused to show weakness and successfully reached the top way before Wes did, although exhausting herself in the process.

It was a long fall to the pit below them, so Kris and Wes got down on their bellies. Wes grabbed a pair of binoculars from a case on his belt, something Kris hadn't noticed before. Now that she thought about it, her blue denim jacket and red tank top beneath it were rather visible, especially when next to Wes' brown jacket which allowed Wes better camouflage. Kris had to hope that Cipher wouldn't look up.

"Okay, there they are," Wes muttered as he looked through his binoculars, then gave them to Kris. "Here, have a look."

Kris looked through the lenses. Zooming a bit closer, Kris saw the a number of grunts emerging from the back of the truck. They were Cipher Peons, Cipher's henchmen who wore the most extraordinary uniforms: both male and female members wore white full-body outfits that made them look like robots, especially with the helmets and visors covering most of their face.

Besides what had to be about eight Cipher Peons, there was also someone whom Kris assumed to be their leader. He easily stood out due to his look, which was both terrifying and ridiculous: he wore a dark purple robe and had odd-looking, wiry and serpentine silver-white hair. He wore sunglasses which didn't quite cover a massive scar over his right eye, and his face was completely expressionless as he gave orders to the Peons.

"Eugh, look at the guy!" Kris said, perhaps a little too loud, as her voice echoed well in the canyon. "Is it really a dude? He looks a bit like Medusa."

"Sorry, I haven't seen 300," Wes retorted ignorantly and grabbed the binoculars from Kris. "And that's Nascour, apparently. Hold on… look!"

Since Wes refused to let go of the binoculars again, he and Kris compromised and they both looked through them, using only one eye each. Kris saw Nascour calmly telling something to the Peons, who were offloading crates form the truck, putting them on the ground. After the truck was apparently empty, Nascour said something to them, causing the Peons to shrug and get back inside the truck.

Oddly enough, the Peons left, taking both the truck and the normal car, leaving Nascour all alone with the crates. Kris wondered about this recklessness, and tried to see what equipment Nascour was taking from the crates, but suddenly Wes yanked the binoculars away and put them back on his belt before standing up.

"What are you doing?" Kris wondered. "Get down before he sees you!"

"He's alone, now's our chance for an ambush!" Wes argued quietly. "Come on!"

"But…"

Kris didn't have time to resist as Wes already starting to sneak down towards the bottom of the pit, occasionally ducking behind more rocks. Kris carefully followed suit, cursing Wes' stupidity as she descended.

Eventually, Kris and Wes hid behind the rock closest to Nascour, allowing them to see what he was doing. For some reason, he had connected a bunch of monitors and loudspeakers together to form a circle, the monitors resting on the loudspeakers so they were on eye level with Nascour. Then, Nascour stepped in the middle of the circle as Kris and Wes looked on. Eight large flat screen monitors and loudspeakers surrounded him.

Suddenly, he started talking, and Kris and Wes both flinched. But Nascour wasn't talking to them - it seemed like he was talking to himself.

"I am ready," he announced, his voice loud and surprisingly masculine, considering his fruity appearance.

Suddenly, all the monitors and loudspeakers were turned on, even though Nascour didn't press any buttons. Large images of numbers appeared on every monitor - 01, 02, 03 and so on, all the way up to 08, written with a yellow font, with nothing but black around the numbers.

"_Is this transmission secure, Mr. Nascour_?" asked a scratchy, loud and discordant voice from one of the loudspeakers - Kris couldn't tell which.

"Quite so," Nascour said calmly. "So secure, in fact, that this Committee could have met me in person. Am I not trustworthy enough?"

"_That is exactly the case_," another voice announced - Kris noticed that Nascour turned towards the voice speaking in question, being very polite and calm. "_There have been too many people trying to take advantage of our… goodwill._"

"Indeed," Nascour said, rubbing his chin and thoughtfully. "First Cheren Black turned out to be a mole and destroyed one of your most valuable assets… then Professor Kaminko decided to seize all power to himself, only to be arrested. I wasn't exactly blaming you for having trust issues. In fact, it will be pretty easy to get rid of me if you don't find me reliable."

Nascour talked about this very calmly. Kris frowned a bit - how did that Cipher guy living in the middle of nowhere in Orre know so much about stuff? And what exactly had Kris missed while living in her little hidey hole?

The voices were not at all intimidated by Nascour's moxy.

"_We do not put all of our eggs in one basket, Nascour. Cipher is not vital to our operations_."

"_However, should you prove yourself worthy to our cause, we may reconsider your status in our operations._"

"Excuse me for a moment," Nascour interrupted, raising his hand. "But you told me to put just eight monitors instead of the usual nine… any reason for this?"

"_You may have noticed that our soon-to-be-former leader, Mr. Alder, is not present in this meeting. He is too soft, too unwilling to make the hard choices, not ready to face the harsh reality. He is not suitable for our goals._"

"What a shame," Nascour deadpanned. "He seemed to be such a fine puppet. What will you do without your precious Unova champion now?"

"_We do not need to influence the Pokémon League any further than we already do._"

"_We control the military, political, scientific and financial aspects of the entire Pokémon nation. Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, Orre, Holon… we will soon re-establish a foothold in the Ranger Union as well."_

"_Mrs. Erma is a very old woman. Once she steps down, it is easy to put someone whom we can control to the Ranger Union, and soon Fiore, Almia and Oblivia will also fall under our dominion_. _A unified world is only moments away from happening_."

"And I'm to play a role in this?" Nascour asked casually, then shrugged. "All right, then. That job in Johto went without a hitch. You really should have been more gentler on that girl, though. According to our intelligence, they revived her in the Saffron Hospital, but her condition is bad."

"_We already received the info regarding Ms. Soul. We own the hospital in question_."

"I shoulda known," Nascour remarked casually.

Kris froze. Wes was constantly monitoring his surroundings, trying to come up with a strategy, muttering to himself. But Kris didn't care about anything that Wes had in mind. 'Ms. Soul'. Lyra Soul? Could she be alive? Had Palmer lied to her, or did he just have bad intelligence?

_Gah!_ It felt infuriating to just sit behind the rocks, listening to Nascour, watching his ridiculous hair and his arrogant smirk.

"Kris," Wes whispered after finally conducting a plan. "I have a Zebstrika. It can sabotage that generator from afar, taking out the monitors so the Committee can't see us. Palmer told me you can use Pokétch powers, so use Ice Beam or something on Nascour to make sure he won't run from us. Got it?"

Kris barely understood what Wes said, only something about using Ice Beam on Nascour. Kris didn't even know what a Zebstrika was, she just nodded quietly and readied he Pokétch. She had to get on her knees just enough to see Nascour but to make sure he wouldn't see her. All the screens that Nascour was talking to apparently had cameras on them - Nascour's back was turned, so the situation was ideal.

"Remember what I said, a'ight?" Wes whispered and scuttled behind another, much larger rock where he could take Zebstrika from its ball without too much hassle.

Kris kept pointing her Pokétch in Nascour's direction, but watched as Wes opened his Poké Ball, revealing her what a Zebstrika was: it was apparently Blitzle's evolved form, Kris having seen a Blitzle in a book somewhere. Zebstrika was a lot like Blitzle, only much larger and much more menacing. Its primary color was black, but it was all coated in white stripes, sort of like a reversed zebra, with a long, white mane and two thunderbolt-shaped horns.

Wes climbed on Zebstrika's back, laying low and hiding himself in its mane like Kris had done with Suicune earlier. Zebstrika sneaked closer to the generator powering the screen, keeping its distance to avoid detection.

Kris stared at Nascour again. But she was unable to freeze him now, not when there was so much to ask - Wes probably didn't care if Nascour survived the confrontation, but Kris needed him alive… if there was even the slightest chance that Lyra was alive…

_Crapcrapcrapcrap…_ _what do I do now?_

Wes and his Zebstrika stopped, but Kris wanted to continue listening to Nascour's conversation. Just a little bit more…

"…as planned, I understand?" Nascour said when Kris started listening again.

"_Yes. Continue your operations in Orre. We provided you with a serum - you need to transmit it around the region. Make sure every Pokémon is exposed to it._"

"Not a problem," Nascour said.

"_We cannot afford any political fallout. Should you or any member of Cipher be caught doing this, we will not be able to help you. For the purposes of… _publicity_, this Committee does not exist_."

"Of course," Nascour said. "I-"

"THUNDERBOLT!"

Wes' scream was heard all over the canyon, causing Nascour to almost jump in the air. Wes' Zebstrika's electric shock quickly overloaded the generator. As a circuit board exploded and sparks flew around, all the screens around Nascour went completely dark.

"Ice Beam, Kris!" Wes yelled, horrified upon noticing that Kris was just standing still. "NOW!"

But Kris couldn't. She needed more info, she had wanted to hear the rest of the conversation. She just aimed the Pokétch at Nascour in panic, uncertain and frightened.

And Nascour turned, seeing Kris with the Pokétch. He quickly reached for a Poké Ball in his pocket, and Kris fired instinctively.

An ice beam was fired from Kris' Pokétch, but Kris' hesitation caused the beam to hit one of the monitors instead, encasing it in solid ice, which would take a while to melt even on the desert.

Nascour himself took cover behind a loudspeaker, opening two Poké Balls at a time. He sent out a Dusclops and a Metagross, but the latter looked very strange to Kris, a Pokémon like Kris had never seen before. It looked like a normal Metagross, but it had a strange, ghostly, dark purple aura around it. It also made a metallic roar of sorts, a sound which sent chills down Kris' spine.

But Kris wasn't alone, Wes rode his Zebstrika towards Kris' hideout, his Zebstrika launching a Thunderbolt in the direction of Nascour' Pokémon, forcing them to dodge. While Nascour was distracted, Kris opened her only Poké Ball.

"Croc, go!"

Her ferocious Feraligatr was ready to battle as always, ready to charge at its enemy, but Wes stopped Kris from saying anything. Wes jumped down from his Zebstrika, crouching next to Kris.

"Wait!" he yelled. "See that Metagross? It's a shadow Pokémon! You won't beat it by just charging head-on!"

"Well, that's the only battling style I know," Kris snapped, half-truthfully.

"The only way we can beat that cross-dresser is if we work together," Wes insisted. "He's tough. Tougher than me, even."

"I'm not exactly soft, either," Kris remarked.

But Wes was right. Kris needed to focus, to work in tandem with this annoying cowboy. She nodded at Wes, and Wes nodded back before he started to frantically babble instructions for their double battle:

"I'll take the Shadow Metagross," he said before Kris could protest. "I've been dealing with those types before, easy as dying. You, keep the Dusclops out of my back, willya?"

The Dusclops and the Metagross were quickly ready to fight again, standing in front of Nascour, who cowered behind the Metagross' back, yelling taunts from there.

"Wesley!" he screeched. "It's been a long time. How's your girlfriend doing?"

Wes clenched his fist, but otherwise appeared calm. He didn't give Nascour the satisfaction of a response. Kris, on the other hand, was surprised - hadn't Wes said that he didn't know Nascour?

"Zebstrika, Flame Charge!" Wes yelled.

Zebstrika stomped the ground with its hooves, causing a large cloud of dust and dirt to surround its body. It then became encased with flames and started charging towards the Metagross.

"Metagross, Hammer Arm!" Nascour yelled quickly. "Dusclops, circle around it and use Shadow Punch!"

Now it was Kris' turn. "Croc, Ice Punch!"

Her Feraligatr started running towards Dusclops before it could reach Wes' Zebstrika. Kris knew a Normal-type attack wouldn't work - she wasn't a complete noob, after all - but an Ice Punch could potentially freeze the one-eyed ghost. Croc stopped the Dusclops from advancing as it struck it with Ice Punch, but somehow, Croc's fist became lodged _inside_ the Dusclops, trapping Croc.

"What the hell!" Kris screamed.

Metagross attempted to punch Zebstrika, but the agile zebra dodged the attack and managed to hit Metagross with a Flame Charge. Still, this was not even close enough to bring it down.

Meanwhile, Kris was in trouble. "Wes!" she shouted when Dusclops used Curse, which started to sap Croc's energy, Croc's hand still being stuck in the black hole inside Dusclop's body.

Wes noticed Kris' predicament, but also saw Metagross recovering from Zebstrika's attack. Cursing to himself, he made the decision.

"Zebstrika, Thunder Wave!"

Wes' Zebstrika ignored the looming Shadow Metagross very close by, and launched a thin stream of electricity from its horns. The stream wrapped itself around Dusclops, paralyzing it.

Thanks to this, Croc managed to wriggle free from the now-helpless Dusclops. Kris made a quick mental note to thank Wes later, then focused on the battle.

"Croc, Hydro Pump!"

Croc blasted a powerful stream of water from its mouth, the huge pressure hitting Dusclops and instantly knocking it out. However, the Shadow Metagross behind Zebstrika pounded the ground with its legs, using Earthquake, which caused both Croc and Zebstrika to fall down.

Remarkably, neither Pokémon was knocked out, though both were severely weakening, Dusclops' curse still lingering on Croc. As Kris' and Wes' Pokémon struggled to get on their feet again, Nascour was ready for another attack.

"You really choose your women well, Wesley," he taunted. "First Rui costs you your job, now this chick's going to cost your life!"

"Zebstrika, Thu-"

"Metagross, Psychic!" Nascour yelled, drowning out Wes' orders.

Zebstrika was confused, unable to hear what Wes said, and couldn't dodge when Metagross used Psychic to lift the zebra in the air. The Zebstrika struggled in vain, kicking its legs and shaking its head mid-air as Metagross tormented it with Psychic.

"Damn it!"

"Fear not, Wes," Kris said, deciding to repay the favor. "Croc, Earthquake!"

Though its energy was being sapped away, Croc still found the strength to pound the ground as hard as it could with its foot.

"Magnet Rise!"

Nascour shouted this quickly, before Croc had even finished its attack. Metagross released its grip on Zebstrika, and while Zebstrika came crashing down, it drew its legs together and started to float, completely evading Croc's attack.

"It told you it was pointless, Wesley," Nascour sang annoyingly. "Metagross, use Psychic on those two behind the rock!"

Kris and Wes ducked as the psychic shockwave blasted into the rock, tearing apart huge chunks of it.

After using its attack, Metagross started to look different. Its eyes started glowing red, and as its leg pulled apart from each other and it landed again, the dark aura around it started to expand, engulfing the whole Pokémon in its glow.

"Aww, shhh…oot!" Wes exclaimed. "It's entering Hyper Mode!"

"What now?" Kris wondered.

"Kris, listen to me - we only got one chance to take down Nascour and his Pokémon, and we gotta hurry, he'll call in reinforcements soon. That Metagross is gonna use Shadow Rush soon, and your Croc ain't gonna survive that blast. My Zebstrika's not doing a dent on that thing, so I need you to take it out!"

"What? I don't-"

"_Then_," Wes continued, "as soon as Croc has attacked, we run and take down Nascour ourselves. You got the Pokétch, so use it!"

"B-but… what if he has a gun or something?" Kris asked nervously.

"Like I said. One chance."

"…fine."

Wes nodded, and he and Kris came out from their cover. Their Pokémon, near fainting now, stepped between the shadow Metagross and the trainers, still protecting them. Nascour smirked.

"Shadow Rush!" he shouted predictably.

The glowing Metagross started to charge towards Croc and Zebstrika, moving much faster than Kris thought possible for a lumbering piece of metal. If the two Pokémon absorbed the hit together, they could still make it, but Wes had other plans.

"Zebstrika, take the hit!"

_Take the hit…_?

Kris wondered where Wes had gotten that, but Zebstrika seemed to be used to this order, as it pushed Croc away and threw itself in the way of Metagross' attack, letting out a pained howl as the attack struck it. Metagross then tossed the unconscious Zebstrika away, and Kris saw an opening.

"Hydro Pump!" she yelled.

Feraligatr fired another powerful stream of water, which easily hit Metagross and hurled it across the canyon until it hit another jagged rock and passed out.

Wasting no time, Wes charged toward Nascour, drawing the Cipher agent's attention. Kris sneaked behind the guy, and indeed saw him pull out a gun. There was no way Wes could pull out his revolver in time…

Kris fired her Pokétch. An ice beam struck Nascour's gun and froze it solid, causing Nascour to scream and drop the extremely cold pistol. Holding his hand, Nascour turned towards Kris, who hired another ice beam, this time towards Nascour's feet.

The ice beam encased Nascour's feet into a block of solid ice. Nascour was rendered helpless, so Wes charged at him and tackled him to the ground. He dropped his sunglasses, revealing a pair of frighteningly red eyes, very similar to the ones seen on his Metagross.

Kris and Wes stood above the injured Nascour, who seemed to have given up his struggle. Wes looked down on Nascour, as if staring a bug-type Pokémon he had just squished with his boot.

"All right, lady-boy, start talking!" he grunted as he grabbed Nascour's collar with disgust. "What are you guys doing with the Committee now? What's the big diabolical plan this time?"

Nascour laughed at Wes' face, still defiant despite his defeat.

"_This_ was your plan?" he scoffed. "You sure haven't changed, _Wesley_. Your battle strategy always consisted of running towards random dangers and hoping for the best."

Kris snorted. "Your real name is _Wesley_?"

"Wes is just fine, thanks," Wes growled, visibly embarrassed by this revelation. Then, still holding Nascour's collar, he slammed the Cipher agent's head in the rocky ground.

This caused Kris to wince, though she had to admit that Wes' style was brutally effective, reminding Kris of how Touko and Silver used to do things. "That probably didn't feel too good," Kris said to Nascour. "Just tell us everything you know. That ice around your feet isn't doing you much good. If you remain trapped like this too long, they'll have to amputate 'em."

"You're bluffing," Nascour mumbled, grimacing due to the big wound on his forehead. "And in case you haven't noticed, this is the desert. It's, like, ninety-five degrees in here. It'll melt in a matter of minutes!"

"Celsius?" Wes wondered. "We gotta get outta here!"

Kris silenced Wes with her look, then turned to Nascour again. "That ice ain't gonna melt anytime soon," she said, suddenly noticing that she was talking with a slight Orre accent not unlike Wes'. "My Feraligatr's holding a Nevermeltice, see?"

Nascour groaned and desperately tried to get his feet out of the block of ice, but just to be sure, Wes pushed him back on the ground.

"Like my lady friend here said, you ain't going nowhere," Wes said. "But if life in a wheelchair is _that_tempting to you…"

"Look, I would like to tell you," Nascour panicked, "but I can't! They'll… you were listening in, right? So you know that they got their eyes everywhere!"

Kris looked around her, as if anticipating men in black to appear any moment now. "Can they, uh, see us now?" she asked as nonchalantly as she could.

"They don't have many cameras in Orre," Nascour muttered, apparently ashamed that he was cracked by a half-brained cowboy-wannabe and a skinny, unhygienic girl. "One of the members of the Committee owns MegaNet, a software company that supposedly develops anti-piracy programs. In reality, everyone who installs their software is being tracked 24/7. They can read all your emails, and if that wasn't enough, they have cameras all over Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh and Unova! The cops will bring you in for questioning if you pick your nose in a public place."

"Who does that anyway?" Kris wondered. "A disgusting habit."

She started to chew on her hair as she said that. She always did that when she was nervous. Everyone else was repelled by this.

"What's the big deal, though?" Wes asked in an attempt to understand the situation and to distract himself from Kris' hair-eating. "Can't people just use someone else's products?"

"Hah!" Nascour said, trying to sound defiant and brave, though the fact that he was still pinned down by Kris and Wes lessened the effect somewhat. "The Committee isn't stopped by something like that. Bill, that computer geek from Kanto, developed his Pokémon Storage System using MegaNet's technology. In case that wasn't enough, Lanette from Hoenn and Bebe from Sinnoh basically copied his technology. The whole Pokémon nation is dependent on their technology."

"I shoulda become a Ranger like my momma always said…" Wes lamented.

"But The Man can't get their hands on Orre, apparently?" Kris said while Wes had this 'thinking face' on, pretending to look like he was pondering something important. "That is, until you guys came along."

"Yeah…" Nascour confessed, though there wasn't even a hint of regret in his voice. "In case you didn't know, Orre was used as a testing site for something really freaky back in the day. Holon, too - they discovered some electromagnetic waves in there when trying to find Mew. With all the native Pokémon exposed to it, their DNA was really messed up. In Orre, they tried something far worse… now plants won't grow and Pokémon can't live here, which is why all Pokémon here are brought from somewhere else. Electrical equipment any bigger than my generator here also fried."

"I think we got it already," Kris sighed, wanting to get down to the business of Lyra. "You turn Pokémon into shadow mons, terrorize the people into doing whatever you want."

"Pretty much," Nascour grinned. "This place is too terrible to have active law enforcement, so they're confined in the cities, and even then mostly just Phenac."

"Okay, yeah, whatever," Kris said, as she found it hard to care about it now, with all the other weirdness going on. "By the way, that Nevermeltice bit? I lied. Croc doesn't have one. That ice around your feet should melt in a moment or two."

"Nice touch, Kris!" Wes said appreciatively.

"Thanks," Kris smiled, wanting to finally talk about Lyra. "So, earlier you-"

But Wes cut in between the conversation, having looked at Nascour with ever-increasing disgust. "I can't believe you sick Cipher sunuvabitches…" he growled. "Perhaps you forgot that this region is my home. Lousy-"

Wes raised his fist, ready to break Nascour's nose and grab some of his teeth as souvenirs, but Kris stopped him.

"Calm down," Kris said firmly. "You did it already. We deliver this guy to the law, Cipher loses one of their most important members, The Committee loses their foothold in Orre and all the 'nice people' out there win without knowing it. You had your revenge already."

"Revenge?" Nascour wondered, looking between Kris and Wes for a while. Then, he smiled, even in his battered state, understanding now. "Really, Wesley? That's what you told this chick? What did you also tell him, that you're one of Orre's greatest heroes?"

As hard as it was, Kris pushed Lyra away from her mind at the moment. Intrigued by Nascour's words, she eyed Wes with suspicion. She saw that Wes' face had changed completely. He had previously been suave and full of confidence, now he was clearly sweating and deliberately avoiding eye contact with Kris.

"Well, I don't blame you for lying, Wesley, it's one of my favorite activities," Nascour said, smirking with smug satisfaction - he clearly had the upper hand now, despite laying beaten, broken and slowly losing all feeling in his feet. Next, Nascour turned to Kris and started explaining: "You see, miss, Wesley hasn't always been a cowboy-wannabe bounty hunter or whatever he thinks he is now. Back when I knew this kid, he ran with Team Snagem."

"Yes, he already told me that," Kris said, but still suspicious.

"Uh huh," Nascour said, unsurprised. "But did he also tell you that he used to be one of their most effective goons? Shaking people down for protection money, using the Snag Machine to steal Pokémon from people? I wouldn't be surprised if all of his Pokémon came from starving orphans by now. Heh. And they call me a bad guy…"

Wes was previously blushing nervously, but now his reaction was entirely opposite: color from his skin was fading and his eyes widened, but he didn't even try to defend himself from Nascour's claims.

"But since you know he was a Snagem Grunt," Nascour said to Kris, "it's not the stealing part that would bother you. But what if I told you that _he_was the one that supplied us with most of the shadow Pokémon you see today? He got pretty good money off it, too. Too bad his old girlfriend Rui doesn't really agree with his policies, so she ditched 'poor' Wesley. The only reason he ever stopped selling us stolen Pokémon is that he's still desperately trying to get his girl back. Would be sad if it wasn't so stupid. I bet Rui's pretty pissed off at ol' Wesley here right now."

"Why are you using present tense?" Kris asked, though she feared that she already knew the answer. "I thought you guys had Rui killed?"

Nascour threw his head back dramatically and started laughing, causing Wes to put his hand on the revolver.

"He told you that?" he chuckled. "Nah, you see, Rui's really just-"

Wes pulled out his revolver, to the horror of Kris. But instead of shooting, Wes just hit Nascour in the face with the back of his gun, knocking the Cipher agent unconscious. He stood up, wiped the dust off his jacket, turned away from Kris and recalled his Zebstrika. Kris couldn't help but to wonder: _Wasn't anyone dead_? I mean, first Lyra is apparently dead, but now she's alive? And then this Rui chick? Was there something about Kris that made other people lie in her face like that?

"Sorry about that," Wes muttered, facing away from Kris. "Filthy liar…"

"Yeah, I really hate when people lie in your face like that," Kris said venomously as she recalled Croc. She then crossed her arms and gave Wes a suspicious look. "Wes, is there something you-"

"Look, Kris, I gotta be honest with ya," Wes said, his bright blue eyes still looking elsewhere. "A _part_of what Nascour said was true. Um… well, the part about starving orphans definitely wasn't! I caught these m'self!"

"Yeah, I figured _that_ was a hyperbole," Kris said, rolling her eyes.

"Yeah…" Wes sighed as he stared at his shoes. Kris was sure that Wes hadn't understood what she had said. "But I guess I haven't told you _everything_ I could have…"

"Are you going to tell me now?" Kris asked.

"Ehh… no," Wes said evasively. "But maybe later. I'm a bit exhausted right now."

Wes put his revolver back in the holster and placed Zebstrika's Poké Ball back on his belt amongst the others. He straightened his cowboy hat, then finally looked Kris in the eyes.

"Nice battling, by the way!" Wes said sincerely. "I honestly didn't think you had it in ya. Hell of a job with scaring Nascour, too."

"Oh…"

Kris wasn't sure how to react to praise like that. Now that she thought about it, Croc had beaten two high-level Pokémon today, the other being a total freak of nature. She smiled weakly at Wes, and now was her turn to look at feet and start blushing.

"Well, I, uh, thank you, I guess, but…" she stuttered. "You did most of it, right? Your zebra-thingy was pretty cool…"

"Thanks!" Wes said. "We make a pretty good team." Wes then clapped his hands together excitedly. "All right, well, let's leave Mr. Nascour here before he wakes up. You helped me with him, so I'll help you with your thing. Let's get back to Johto and see this Mr. Palmer of yours. Y'know, before the Cipher dudes come back and make shish kebab out of us both."

"Oh, sure…"

Kris and Wes started to climb out of the canyon together. Kris wasn't still sure what to think of Wes. He _had_ sacrificed his own Pokémon to protect hers. Not very nice towards the Zebstrika, though, but Kris appreciated it anyway. If half of what Nascour said was true, then this still wasn't a very pleasant man she was walking with… but under Wes' praise, she had mostly managed to ignore that. And why would Kris believe that fruity criminal anyway?

Now that Kris finally had someone to talk to, maybe this trip could be interesting. Fun, even.

"So, uh… do you remember which way we came?" Wes wondered.

Or not.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes: Okay, in case anyone is reading this, sorry about the delay and all. Only four months or so, right? I'll update the summary and my page and I'll probably get working on fixing some of the errors in my earlier stories... I need a beta reader or something. Or maybe someone to stand behind me and crack me with a whip every time I don't write something. Anyway, reviews are ALWAYS appreciated, especially if the tone is negative - how else will I learn?<br>_**

**_I'll be updating a lot more frequently from now on, I promise! Pokécalype will be finished and it will be as epic as I can make it. In the next chapter, we'll see more about Kris' past before the events of this story. Next chapter: 'A Trip Down Memory Lane'_.**


	6. A Trip Down Memory Lane

**Chapter Six: A Trip Down Memory Lane**

_**Location: Olivine City, Johto  
>December 5<strong>__**th**__**, 2099**_

"FML," Kris said wearily.

Kris and Wes were standing on the edge of town, hitchhiking at the side of the only road away from Olivine, heading north. Wes held up a sign saying 'MAHOGANY' and Kris held up her thumb. Considering that they hadn't showered in days, the odds of anyone picking up these two hitchhikers were slim at best. That, and they hadn't seen a car go by in almost an hour.

"Goddamn," Wes grumbled, holding the sign higher. "Goddamn Palmer couldn't get us a goddamn ride to get to the place where he goddamn is, goddamn it!"

"Are you done yet?" Kris asked.

"No! Goddamn it! Okay, now I'm done."

Kris sighed. They had gotten out of Orre easily, without running into any trouble along the way. They had ridden a rent-a-Lapras all the way to Johto, but now that they were in Olivine City and Palmer's hideout was in Mahogany Town, the only way they could get there was by walking or hoping that some sucker would pick them up. And Kris wasn't exactly thrilled at the prospect of traveling with Mr. Wes "I-am-better-than-you-at-everything" Marston.

That said, aside from the moments when Wes started rambling on about some implausible heroic deed he did, he was downright tolerable. Kris knew she wasn't exactly the easiest person to get along with, so actually having someone to treat her as a person was refreshing. Wes had also told interesting stories about his childhood, though some of them were over-angsty tales about how he never had a father figure in her life, having been raised by his mother Lily in Orre's only laboratory. Wes also had a sister, Jovi, whom he used to torment (or 'tease' according to himself) by scaring her with stories about shadow Pokémon under her bed. Kris didn't care to mention that Wes had probably traumatized his sister for life.

"This ain't working too well," Wes said, causing Kris to roll her eyes. She was visibly struggling not to remark with something like '_Wow, what an amazing observation_'.

"Uh huh," Kris said neutrally.

"Ah, well, knew it was a mistake to come here," Wes said and finally threw away the sign. "There are _people_ out there in the world after all."

"Yeah," Kris said. "You know what kind of people I hate?"

"Everyone?" Wes guessed, and Kris nodded. "Wow, me too!"

Kris smiled and sat down on the ground, anticipating that she would have to walk to Palmer's place anyway. Might as well make him wait a bit longer, seeing how he ordered Kris to run around the world and whatnot. Wes sat next to her, perhaps a bit too close for Kris' liking.

"So, I told you _my_ astonishing life story," Wes said and looked at Kris with an unrelenting gaze, making Kris uncomfortable. "Wanna tell me yours, Krissy?"

"Can't you just call me Kris?" the irritable girl replied. "I mean, 'Krissy' has more letters than 'Kris' anyway… that nickname is illogical! Why do you keep using it?"

Wes grinned, as if the answer was obvious. "To get you worked up like that, of course."

"Yeah, sure," Kris said calmly, not wanting to give Wes the satisfaction of actually getting her worked up. "Romantic comedy cliché #58 doesn't have any more effect on me than the other ones."

"C'mon, Krissy, I was only joking a bit," Wes laughed and nudged Kris on the shoulder. "Like, where did you grow up? What was your family like?"

Kris let out an even wearier sigh. She stopped looking at the ground and stared at Wes. Strangely, his blue eyes, messy blonde hair, scruffy appearance and overall easy-going attitude reminded Kris of someone, made Wes easier to talk to. And Kris had been looking for a chance to complain to someone for quite some time…

"If you really wanna know…" Kris said cautiously, constantly monitoring Wes' reactions, not wanting to bore him. "Born in New Bark Town, Johto. Went to school in Cherrygrove City. First nineteen years of my life, I didn't go anywhere further than those two towns. As for my family, well… let's just say I won't be crying when my mother croaks, which will hopefully be soon."

"What were you like in school?" Wes asked, ignoring Kris' bitter comment. He sounded genuinely curious, which surprised Kris. "I mean, I'd tell you how I was, but I didn't go to none…"

"You don't say," Kris said, but smiled and sounded much less mean than usual. "Well, just look at me. I mean, everything about me screams: that weird, pale quiet girl just wanting to be left alone, but also wanting for _someone_ to talk to me… they called me 'freak' and all that. They were right, of course," Kris added sadly. "I gotta say, there was a time when I was desperate to be one of the, y'know, _normal _kids…"

"Aw, hell, Krissy!" Wes said and placed his hand on Kris' slender shoulders. "Ain't no such thing as a 'normal person'. We're all weirdoes."

That was surprisingly thoughtful, coming from an uneducated, narcissistic schmuck like Wesley. At least, Kris liked that philosophy.

"You know something?" she said. "You're right!"

"Yeah," Wes said and started to stare into the distance dreamily, shifting himself closer to Kris as he talked. "Rui taught me that one…"

Suddenly, Wes' hand on Kris' shoulder started to feel strange. Everything felt awkward the moment Wes mentioned Rui. Wes hadn't noticed itself, he just stared at nothing in particular, slipping into his daydreams again. Kris had to grab Wes' hand and shake it off.

"Please, Wes," she said. "Let's… we're just friends, okay, I told you. I'm… I'm not Rui!"

"What?"

Wes gasped melodramatically and his eyes widened. Kris knew what was going on: even Wes wasn't that bad of an actor, he just wanted to make Kris laugh and subtly change the subject.

"Of course you're not!" Wes said. "I know that! I mean, she was better-looking and all that…"

"What do you mean '_was'_, Wes?" Kris asked and frowned - she wasn't willing to drop this subject this time. "Is she still around or not?"

"I…" Wes gulped. "Yeah… the truth is, Kris, that she isn't dead. We just sorta… drifted apart. But hey, to _me_, she's as good as dead. Yeah!"

"But that Nascour guy said-"

But all of the sudden, Wes stood up, his eyes focused on something at the end of the road.

"Car!" he yelled, then stared waving his arms in the air. "Hey! Pull over! Hey! Can you give us a ride?"

Kris stood up too. To her surprise, the person in the car wasn't apparently some self-absorbed yuppie from Olivine, as the car pulled over next to Kris and Wes. The two looked at each other, then hopped on the backseats of the car.

The moment, Kris and Wes were in, the car started moving again. From the backseat, Kris couldn't see the driver or the person next to him/her, but she talked to them anyway:

"Thanks for picking us up!" she said. "Hey, can you take us to Mahogany Town? I know it's a long way, but we can pay and-"

The driver turned _its_ face towards Kris and Wes who both flinched and yelled in terror, Wes' voice suddenly getting embarrassingly high. The driver wasn't human at all - briefly, it looked like a blue, dog-headed man.

Then Kris got over her shock, recognizing the black stripes around the jackal-like Pokémon's eyes. It was a Lucario. And sitting next to the Lucario was…

"Yellow?"

"Kris!" Yellow said happily as she turned around as well. "And Wes! How was Orre? Hot, I presume?"

"Holy Mew!" Wes exclaimed, holding his chest but slowly recovering from the shock. "Uh, hey…" he said, his still voice still high. "Why's a Lucario driving? Man, so this is what living your whole life under the sun will do to your brain…"

"Nah, that's Luka," Yellow remarked, still smiling cheerfully. "I can't drive a car, never really found the need for it, plus I'm too short to see over the steering wheel… oh, I forgot! Wes, you haven't met Luka yet. Wes, Luka, and the same in reverse."

"Uh… hi," Wes said nervously, waving at the gruff Lucario that simply turned to look at the road again.

"You two know each other?" Kris wondered, deciding to postpone other questions for later.

"Sure," Yellow smiled and adjusted her oversized straw hat so she could see Kris better. "Palmer told me to track him down so you could go meet him. You're getting along well, I see. Oh yeah, we're taking you to Palmer's place. He's telling you your next assignment."

"Ugh, why all this secrecy?" Kris huffed. "I ain't working for that guy until I know _exactly_ what he wants! And how are you involved in all this, anyway? _Who _are you, anyway?"

Yellow still smiled in the face of Kris' somewhat rude questions. She looked at Kris sympathetically, but shook her head anyway.

"Believe me, I'd like to tell it to you," she said, "but I can't. Things might go wrong. I'm not crazy about Palmer either, you know."

"Well I'm with the chick," Wes said, jerking his thumb in Kris' direction. "She helped me out so I agreed to help her, but I would like to know a little more. This ain't gonna be a stroll down the Safari Zone, I reckon."

"If you want a rough estimate, there's a 96,7% chance that you'll both die during this little mission," Yellow said, still smiling serenely and talking as calmly and peacefully as ever. "But if you succeed… it will be more important than what anyone has ever done."

"No pressure or anything, huh?" Wes remarked jadedly.

Kris sighed and slouched in her seat. She looked out of the car windows, watching the Miltank at the side of the road. Why all this secrecy? What was going on? Everyone was talking about something big happening, but things were so peaceful… no sign of a nationwide Pokémon insurrection or anything.

_Or maybe it's just the calm before the storm_…

"I'm sure Palmer will tell you at least something," Yellow continued. "I suggest you get some shut-eye. We'll be in Ecruteak City in half an hour, then we need to drive around Mt. Mortar… I'd say two to three hours to Mahogany."

"Will you be…" Wes paused and yawned, stretching his arm and almost punching Kris in the process, "…joining us?" he finished.

"I'm afraid not," Yellow said. "In fact, as soon as I have dropped you two off, I'm getting out. I'm not exactly a welcome sight in…well, anywhere."

"Alrighty," Wes said and pushed his cowboy hat on his face again, relaxing in his seat. "If your little doggie crashes the car, wake me up."

Kris rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time - there was moxy, and then there was just stupidity. Still, to Luka's credit, it did not look like it was about to stop the car and blast Wes into oblivion with an Aura Sphere. It just calmly continued driving, handling the car better than most humans did.

"Yellow," Kris mumbled while rubbing her head, feeling very tired herself and suffering from a nauseating headache. _Lousy sun… who needs that anyway?_ "Like you said, you can't tell me much, but… how do you expect me to go around, blindly doing what I'm told?"

"You're not doing that," Yellow assured. "And you'll understand soon. But, I don't want this little road trip to be full of awkward silences so… I guess I can answer _some_of your questions. What do you want to know?"

"Why are you doing this?" Kris asked instantly, this being the first thing that popped in her mind. "Palmer said you don't work _for_ him, so why do you work _with _him?"

Yellow sighed, but still smiled, staring at the roof of the car. Kris saw Luka glancing at its trainer briefly, but kept its attention on the road. The look on Yellow's face was quite similar to Wes' when he was talking about Rui.

"Do you know who Red is?" Yellow asked Kris.

"Do I?" Kris said.. "There was a time when every trainer in Kanto, Johto and I guess everywhere wanted to be like him. Sheesh, it's been so long… let's see now, he defeated Giovanni, tamed and released Moltres and beat Professor Oak's grandson at the Pokémon League. He was the Champion for some time. Then something happened, he stepped down and Lance took his place. Am I right so far?"

"Yeah," Yellow replied, "but anyone who's read a history book… well, a history book that hasn't been rewritten by the Committee knows that. But does anyone know what he really was like?"

"I dunno, I…" Kris paused and raised an eyebrow at Yellow. "So you say you do?"

"It is really hard to explain through words alone," Yellow said and raised her hand. "I'd like to try something… maybe it'll enable you to see…"

"Try what?"

"You could use a nap like your friend," Yellow said, pointing at Wes who was already snoring contently. "I'll share a piece of mind with you while you do so. Don't worry. It's completely harmless."

That didn't sound too good to Kris, though.

"Are you sure?" she asked, suddenly wary of Yellow's hand, which was slowly approaching Kris. "I mean, I don't really care for all this psychic-stuff…"

"But I thought you wanted to know…"

Yellow's tone hadn't really changed - she just sat there, staring at Kris, calm as ever. Kris resigned to her fate and leaned back to be more comfortable. Yellow's hand started forming circles in the air and she focused all her attention on Kris.

"Just relax, Kris, and you will find out the answers yourself…" Yellow chimed as Kris started feeling drowsy. "Open your mind, find the truth amidst all things unnecessary and trivial… but for now, rest…"

With that, Kris fell asleep.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Viridian Forest  
>Six years earlier<strong>_

Back then Yellow was known formally as Amarillo del Bosque Verde, named by her mother after her Pikachu, though even then she preferred to be known just as 'Yellow' - it was shorter. Living in Viridian Forest with her mom and their family Raichu, he rarely came into contact with any people other than her mother, but was happy to do so. When she was a small child, she caught her first Pokémon, a Caterpie, finding herself shocked when she was actually able to understand it, to communicate with it. For a tiny bug, the Caterpie seemed to have an awful lot of opinions about life in the forest and the Pokémon that inhabited it. It told Yellow that there were many more humans living in the forest once, but now, only Yellow and her mother were left. It wouldn't tell why.

Her mother didn't seem at all surprised when Yellow told about this ability, but the ability to connect with Pokémon meant that she was never lonely.

A mere 14-year old girl at this point, Yellow was waltzing through the Viridian Forest, when something disrupted the usual peace. Not a bug catcher being stuck in a tree this time, but a Pokémon-related problem. A Fearow, a Pokémon rarely seen in the forest, had attacked a local swarm of Pidgey, harassing them. Yellow tried to communicate with the Fearow, to find out what was driving it to behave in such a way.

That was when Yellow first saw _him_.

A young man with spiky black hair, wearing a red cap, red jacket and blue jeans had entered the forest. During the recent months, there hadn't even been much bug catchers around, so seeing a person in the forest made Yellow curious.

But the person was a Pokémon trainer. Despite her usually bright disposition, Yellow harbored mistrust towards these types - her mother had always told her that Pokémon trainers only cared about battling and winning, the feelings of their Pokémon being secondary to them.

And yet, this young dude, maybe two or three years older than Yellow and considerably taller than her, seemed to be different. He used his Pikachu with considerable skill (though Yellow had little knowledge of Pokémon battles), yet somehow he kept form injuring the Fearow as he battled it. His Pikachu never once used electric-type attacks, managing to drive the Fearow away with its sheer speed and determination. Yellow knew that this person had saved the Pidgey - she had to approach him, her curiosity overwhelming her. She followed the trainer before he could leave, watching the trainer recalling his Pikachu into its Poké Ball.

"Hey! HEY!"

Yellow ran to the exit of the Viridian Forest, blocking the way. The trainer stopped on his tracks, politely waiting until Yellow caught her breath. When she did, she smiled at the trainer, and the trainer smiled back.

"Well, hi there" he said. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah, I'm all right, definitely, don't worry…" Yellow panted. "I was just… uhm… cool act you pulled off there! Really, that battle was amazing. You managed to make the Fearow stop, and you didn't resort to over-the-top violence… it was the one of the few cases I have seen…"

"Thanks!" the trainer said, smiling even wider. "My name is Red, by the way. Yours?"

"Oh, me?" Yellow flustered, blushing and staring at her feet. "I'm Ama… you can call me Yellow!"

"Nice to meet you!" Red said. "Are you a trainer perhaps, or do you live in the forest?"

"I live here" Yellow mumbled to her feet, becoming bright red in the process. "And no, I'm not a trainer… my mom doesn't like trainers… and neither did I, but now that I met you… I… well, I…"

"I'm glad I could change your opinions…" Red said politely and pretended to adjust his backpack to give Yellow time to calm down a bit. "Is there any reason why your mom doesn't like them?"

"What? Oh… well, she often says that they only care about fame and fortune… disregarding the feelings of the Pokémon…"

"Your mom seems to have known only the bad ones, Yellow. I assure you, guys like that are a minority, and even then, they're just misguided. Pokémon are, when it comes down to it, just like us, and most of us treat them like we treat each other. Granted, to some, that means abuse, but most people legitimately care about their Pokémon. They're not just tools, weapons or status symbols."

Yellow didn't respond, but she was awestruck by Red's wisdom. And even more by his kindness, something that her mother had claimed was missing from the average Pokémon Trainer.

"Um… I won't take any more of your time, Red… but do you live close by?"

"I live in Pallet Town. It's pretty close."

"Oh, good! I mean, good… it's just that… maybe we could see each other more often… I'd like to get to know you better…"

"Aren't you a bit too young for that?"

If she would have been a cartoon character, there would be steam coming out of Yellow's ears at the moment. She used her hat to cover her face, which was currently so red that the color was indistinguishable from the apples hanging from the tree behind her.

"Ah… I didn't mean it… like that…" she stuttered.

"Don't worry, I was joking!" Red laughed. "But I would love to just hang out! I have to visit Viridian City almost every day anyhow, so I'll meet you tomorrow, yeah?"

"Oh… yeah! I'll be here!"

Standing in one place long after Red had waved her goodbye, Yellow waited for her face to return to its usual color, feeling all sweaty and jittery after meeting this guy.

She returned home, to her mother and told her about the Pokémon trainer she saw, but her mother's reaction was predictable. There was no way she would believe Yellow's story of a kind, gentle, brave trainer. Even her Raichu was cowering under the table during Yellow's mom's outburst. But her anger soon faded - instead, Yellow's mom just collapsed on the closest chair, tears running down her face.

She told Yellow why.

Decades ago, when Yellow's mom was a child herself, she lived in the Viridian Forest - this was back when there were many families living there, when Pokémon and humans weren't afraid of each other. The 'good old days'™, so to speak. She had a friend, a boy also living in the forest. A boy called Antonio.

Like Yellow's mom, Antonio lived and worked in the forest well into adulthood, enjoying the simple life. He only lived his father, his mother having left him when Antonio was only a child, joining some shadowy organization. But Antonio didn't mind - he had his dad, his constant companion Pikachu, and Yellow's mom. Life was good for him, until he was about twenty years old. His Pikachu was poisoned by a Weedle. Unprepared for this, having no Antidotes or Pecha Berries in hand, Antonio futilely ran across the forest in search of medical help, carrying the Pikachu in his arms, unaware that it had died long before Antonio stopped his search.

According to Yellow's mom, Antonio, though a nice boy on the surface, had always been withdrawn, even in his own father's opinion. He never tried to understand other people than himself or other Pokémon than his Pikachu, preferring to live in his own little world. But after the death of his Pokémon, Antonio renounced his life in the forest, leaving it, never to return.

What Yellow's mom heard about Antonio afterwards was that he had gotten involved with criminals, becoming a trainer and abusing his Pokémon and distancing himself from Viridian Forest. When Antonio was in his late 20's, he joined the Seven Sages, the military unit that was ambushed during the Pokémon-Human war. Of the seven members, only two were reported to have survived: the other became Lt. Surge, Vermilion's PTSD-suffering, paranoid gym leader, while the other became the respected researcher Professor Kaminko.

Yellow managed to get her mother to calm down after she had told the story, though she maintained that Yellow shouldn't see this boy she was talking about. Ever again.

"If it means so much to you, mom," Yellow had replied. "I promise."

And yet Yellow met him the very next day. And the day after that. Every time, Yellow became more relaxed in Red's company, and keeping their little thing secret from Yellow's mom, they traveled all over Kanto, Red showing the various places he had visited, giving Yellow her first kiss…

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Car en route to Mahogany Town, Johto  
>December 5<strong>__**th**__**, 2099**_

Kris' eyes opened suddenly, the sun shining directly in her eyes through the car's windshield. She was back in the present, the flashback Yellow had given her vividly I her mind, like she had been standing there. It was late afternoon, and as Kris looked around her, she recognized Mt. Mortar - not long until Mahogany Town.

Kris realized she had been leaning on Wes the entire time, though Wes had his hat on his face and was still sleeping. Yellow turned around in her seat, seeing that Kris was awake.

"Well?" she asked, smiling at Kris.

"Red, huh," Kris said. "He must have made quite the impression… you really didn't recognize him to the moment you saw him?"

"Hey, I lived in the middle of a forest," Yellow shrugged. "I didn't leave the place until Red showed me around. It wasn't until then when he told that was the Champion, that he had defeated Giovanni and that he was now gathering data about the latest threat to the peace between human and Pokémon…"

"The Committee," Kris guessed. "What happened, exactly?"

The scenery was starting to change. The peaks of Mt. Mortar were well behind them now, and Mahogany Town was already visible in the distance. They had been driving for almost three hours by now.

"Well, we had been traveling around Kanto in secret for almost two years," Yellow explained. "My mom was starting to get suspicious and worried. I didn't want to upset her, so one day, I went to Pallet Town by myself to pick Red up and introduce him to my mom, to see if I could finally change her opinion."

"Didn't work out?" Kris asked.

Yellow just looked at Kris, her smile fading a bit.

"We would never find out," she said sadly. "When we got back to the forest, machines were already tearing the place apart, cutting it down more and more, driving away all those Pokémon… our house was 'accidentally' demolished by those machines, my mom and the Raichu with it."

"Oh… sorry." Kris was embarrassed, but Yellow didn't seem too upset reminiscing this. She didn't cry or sulk or anything, she just continued telling the story very matter-of-factly.

"Red instantly recognized the big red 'R' on the machines," Yellow explained. "Team Rocket had returned. He had been fighting some leftover Rockets at Sevii Islands previously, but there was a branch in Johto. They covertly took over the Radio Tower and summoned their leader, Giovanni, from wherever he was hiding in. From that point on, Red and I had two enemies to stop."

"I was 16 at the time," Yellow continued, "but just like now, I was not very well, err… endowed. People often assume for someone much younger. Taking that to my advantage, I cut my hair short and donned the disguise of a teenage boy. I gathered info on Team Rocket while Red continued to find out things about the Committee."

"He gathered everything on one USB flash drive," Yellow said, "but while doing so, he apparently crossed some line. Suddenly, he just vanished, like he had never existed at all. Professor Oak denied knowing anything about him, even though he gave Red his PokéDex three years earlier. Only his mother seemed to care that Red had vanished, but she soon gave up her search. I know the Committee made him disappear. Me and Red had established a group of people to fight the Committee before, including these three scientists from Pewter City. They were killed in Sinnoh, and Suicune was framed for it."

"Say, do you know where Suicune is now?" Kris asked. "It would be cool to… hang on." Kris started thinking - her memories were coming back to her. "That incident was all over the news!" The 'Suicune murders', allegedly. That's why SledgeHammer and Extranormal Operations were formed - to 'fight the threat of legendary Pokémon'. This researcher, Leaf Greene, told me about that incident… Julia, a friend of hers, was among the people killed there… but for what?"

"For getting too close to the truth," Yellow said ominously. "I don't know what's in that flash drive, but I _do _know that Suicune was framed. It has been helping us ever since. If Suicune could be a witness, this all would be solved… but I'm the only one I know capable of speaking to Pokémon and even I don't officially exist anymore. In the end, no one was willing to stand up against the Committee. No one besides me, my friend Cal, and this rather interesting fellow called Cheren…"

"Cheren?" Kris parroted. "Cheren Black?"

"Yes, him," Yellow said, nodding her head. "I do not know what his motivation was, exactly, but, well, I have ways of finding out if people are trustworthy enough," Yellow added, smiling devilishly. "Cheren definitely was. He tried to come up with technology for Pokémon-human communication while he worked at Galaxy Inc, one of the many companies in the Committee's pocket. He had managed to gain their trust, but he took too many risks…"

Kris frowned and tried to focus, her headache getting worse as she did so. Palmer had told her that Cheren was '_operative sent by someone to take down the Committee_'. Sent by Yellow, then? But Yellow works with Palmer, so why wouldn't have Palmer known that?

_My brain hurts… I knew I wanted to know more, but not _this_ much…_

"Touko…" Kris mumbled. "Touko has the flash drive now… or, according to Palmer she has, so that could be another one of his lies."

Yellow didn't respond to this, but Kris ignored her and continued her line of thinking. There was some other detail to this…

"I met Ghetsis a while back," Kris confirmed. "I know Team Plasma is against the Committee, so I guess Giovanni is too… but why have the Plasmas and Rockets decided to be best buddies now? From what I've heard, Team Plasma's main dude, that N guy is some 'child of nature', 'freedom for everyone', 'peas on earth' kinda guy. He loves Pokémon, so why would he work with Giovanni, who eats babies for breakfast and caviar for lunch?"

"Beats me," Yellow said. "If you really want to know, I'm sure you will find out."

Kris pondered. "Hmm… they're after me, probably after the others too," she said. "Touko, Touya, Shane, Leaf, Silver… Lyra, too, if she's still alive. I tried to warn Shane and that didn't work out. I don't even know where the others are…"

Yellow was still quiet, calmly looking out of the window while Kris tried to connect the dots.

"What else did Ghetsis say?" Kris asked to herself. "Seven Sages… he had formed a new 'Seven Sages' group in Team Plasma… he named it after the unit he had been part of… so Kaminko and Surge weren't the only survivors after all. But he told me there was also a fourth one…"

Kris snapped her fingers loudly, but somehow Wes didn't wake up but started mumbling something about Pokémon eggs on toast in his sleep.

"Giovanni!" Kris exclaimed. "Ghetsis and Giovanni hated each other when they were in that unit, they were in the same team. And they both hated Kaminko even more… but now that Ghetsis is dead…"

Kris rubbed her hands together, feeling proud of herself for reasoning that much. She was a bit annoyed at Yellow, since she didn't acknowledge Kris' brilliant detective work. Kris still didn't have a cohesive picture of everything, but now she knew better.

When the car started slowing down, Kris looked outside, noticing that they had arrived to the little shop in Mahogany Town - Palmer's hideout was directly beneath the shop, and Kris cringed at the idea of having to meet Palmer and Fernando again. Well, at least now she had Wes with her.

Speaking of Wes, he woke up instantly when Luka stopped the car. Looking around him, he realized that they had arrived, so he yawned and cheerfully stepped out of the car, stretching his back cheerfully.

"I slept like a koala baby made of logs," Wes announced.

"You really slept the whole time?" Kris wondered, also getting out of the car.

"Hey, you need to be refreshed and restored when getting ready to do some killing," Wes said, taking out his six-shooter and aiming it at the sky. "Uh, I mean, battling," he added when he saw the look on Kris' face.

Kris shook her head and turned to face Yellow, who still sat in the car next to Luka.

"You're not coming?" Kris asked.

"I'd prefer not to," Yellow said. "Besides, there's something else I need to do. Now that I convinced Suicune on our side, there's plenty of other legendaries to persuade. I'll probably be heading back to Unova next."

"Take care, then," Kris said, feeling a surprisingly deep connection to Yellow - they had only met once before, yet Kris had a strange feeling, like she had known Yellow of rmuch longer. "I can see why you do this, now… with your mom and Red and all…"

"Well, yes, but not just for them," Yellow replied firmly. "For humans and Pokémon everywhere. For all the things that Red and my mom represented, different as they may have been in personality. We'll see again, Kris, I swear!"

Impatient to leave, Luka put the pedal to the metal and quickly drove away from Mahogany. The car turned to a road leading north, towards Lake of Rage, then quickly disappeared into the wilderness.

"What were you two talking about in there?" Wes wondered, clueless as to what had happened.

Kris looked up at Wes. Sure, he was taller, more rugged and had more scars and stuff, but Wes' blonde hair, blue eyes, the scruffiness and the fact that he looked completely clueless so often reminded Kris of her friend Shane…

_Must be a coincidence_, Kris thought. But sure enough, this seemed to make Kris trust him instinctively. Not that she would ever tell it to Wes. There were other reasons too.

"Nothing really important," Kris said. "But might if we continue our conversation from where we left off?" she suggested.

"Huh?" Wes repeated, his eyes wide and eyebrows raised in confusion.

_Quite a lot like Shane, in fact…_

"You wanted me to tell you stuff about me, correct?" Kris said with openness that she hadn't displayed in a long time. "Well, I dunno if Palmer told you this, but… I used to be part of Extranormal Operations. That super-secret group of trainers who were supposed to take down legendary Pokémon for the 'greater good' and stuff."

"Oh yeah, I had heard rumors…" Wes looked Kris up and down, rubbing his chin thoughtfully in the process. "You? Really?"

Kris smiled at this little jab. "_Anyway_, about a year ago, there was a Christmas party held in our base. I think that was the exact time when I decided that working for our boss, professor Kaminko, wasn't exactly the smartest thing to do. He may have had an agenda of his own and stuff, but we were essentially just marionettes in the Committee's little show."

"A story all too familiar to me," Wes lamented, shaking his head. "Hey, did I already tell you when-"

"Before that party," Kris continued as if Wes hadn't even opened his mouth, "me and my friends Shane and Lyra were sent to take out Darkrai. Except that it didn't try to destroy or enslave humanity or even leave flaming bags of poo on our doorsteps. It was just trying to… communicate. It sort of, er… swallowed us and told us to rebel against Kaminko and the Committee… I think. Too bad it was destroyed before it could tell us why… my memory became like Swiss cheese after that, but slowly I started to piece it together… the others too, I guess."

"Oh?" Wes asked.

Kris reminisced - not for Wes' sake, but for herself. Saying it out loud helped her think, it cleared things up a bit.

"They hadn't counted on us to… _feel_," Kris muttered. "The first one to quit was Silver, this emo red-haired dude with daddy issues."

"Hey, who doesn't have those?" Wes said, only partially sarcastically.

"I bet most people's fathers aren't leaders of international crime syndicates who have committed dozens of murders and ordered probably three times as much," Kris remarked. "Silver wanted to get in touch with his father. No matter how much Silver hated Giovanni, he knew that if he stayed with the organization, he would have to fight Giovanni sooner or later. He tried to join Team Rocket… only to be betrayed yet again. I hear he was hurt pretty bad. And not just physically."

"Well-"

"Then there was Touko," Kris said loudly, drowning Wes' voice. "His boyfriend Touya was inhumanely reconstructed by Kaminko. I'm not surprised that it took Touko many months to figure out that the guy whom he was… _interfacing_with had artificially constructed… parts. Either way, Touko and Touya quit too. Then Leaf, one of the members of the science team quit to make sure Silver wouldn't get himself killed. Then I quit."

"But what-"

"I remember Cheren Black contacting us soon after we quit," Kris said. "He promised us an end to our suffering and all that, but he just screwed us over just as badly as the Committee did. He sent me and Leaf to go and meet Ghetsis of Team Plasma for some meeting, but it was an ambush. Me, Leaf and my trusty ol' Croc cornered the old guy, but he decided to redecorate his walls with his brains instead of answering his crimes. And now N the manchild is in charge of Team Plasma, knockin' boots with Giovanni."

Kris looked up at Wes again, suddenly realizing how much she had talked. Wes had crossed his arms and was impatiently tapping his foot. But seeing how much Wes loved to talk about himself, Kris only saw it as fair game. And hey, he was the one that asked!

"Quite a story," Wes commented. "Could have used a twist where you turn out to be your own mother or something, but it was fine like that too."

"I just wanted to make sure we're on the same side here," Kris argued, although she smiled devilishly and tilted her head playfully as she said it. "'Sides, I like you well enough. If I was a better person, we could even be friends. You believe in something and are ready to fight for it, just like Yellow. That's more than most can say."

"Yeah, I'm fighting all right," Wes said eagerly, as if ready to pull out a Poké Ball and blast away some buildings for fun. "And I agree with you that this whole thing stinks. And by that, I don't mean you…"

Wes paused and sniffed the air.

"Well, actually, I do mean you," Wes said bluntly. "Sorry. But hey, I guess I could use a shower as well. Does this Palmer guy have one?"

"Only one," Kris said, "and we only get cold water."

"Better than standing naked in an empty room while your Feraligatr spits on us, I'm sure. Besides, I wouldn't mind sharing the shower with you…"

Kris resisted the urge to slap Wes in the face - he just looked like a guy who could use some smacking. Then Kris' mood started going down when she looked at Palmer's uninviting hideout. Kris and Wes were still standing on the door, neither of them wanting to go in first.

_Well, he can't make my life any worse…_

Kris and Wes stepped into the building together. Misery loves company, after all.

* * *

><p><strong><em>Author's Notes<em>****_: Quite a bit exposition and dialogue here, but I swear that it was necessary. Wanted to make sure the plot isn't completely incomprehensible, but I didn't want to over-explain it either. Yellow's little flashback is lifted from one of my older stories, a bit modified. This whole story parallels that one, but the rest of the plot will take a whole different direction, trust me. Either way, the future chapters will be a bit shorter, paced better and have more Pokémon battles and stuff._**

**_Coming up next: Chapter Seven, 'The Pokémon Researcher'. Kris and Wes head to Kanto to pick up the next member of their team, with Team Rocket not far behind!_**

**_Thanks to drewbie for reviewing! Always cool to get a new reader/reviewer. Also big thanks to Alternate Lopunnu and Jaxin, too, of course, for sticking with this never-ending story and reviewing. And anyone else who might be reading, too. Thx!1!_**


	7. The Pokémon Researcher

**Chapter Seven: The Pokémon Researcher**

_**Location: Palmer's hideout, Mahogany Town, Johto  
>December 6<strong>__**th**__**, 2099. 9 AM**_

Kris and Wes both stood behind Palmer's desk, quietly watching as Palmer casually read some documents, not acknowledging their presence in any way. Kris briefly looked at Wes, who looked at Palmer with obvious disdain, with a sort of a '_This is the guy I have to work for?'_-look. Even if Wes had met Palmer before, he obviously never actually looked forward to the occasions.

And Kris understood why: the moment Palmer put the documents away and stared at Kris and Wes with his creepy orange eyes, it looked as if he was about to growl '_I'm under your bed!_' or something.

"Good work in Orre," Palmer finally said, and both Kris and Wes sighed in relief, their tension being released. "No time to slouch around here anymore, though. I have two Rail Passes for you," he threw two rail passes on his desk, right in front of Kris and Wes. "Go to Goldenrod, take the Magnet train and head to Saffron City. Our contact is somewhere in there."

"Can't you tell us who it is?" an annoyed Kris asked - she was fed up with creepy mysteries and mysterious creeps. "That way, we can, like, recognize her. Or him. Or it."

"The contact is a competent Pokémon researcher and that's all you need to know," Palmer mused, sounding like he was happy to let Kris squirm. "Whoever they are, they wanted to remain anonymous until now. I can tell from the lingo they used that they're not one of the Pokémon professors - maybe a freelancer, I don't know."

"Any dangers, conspiracies or weirdoes we should be concerned about?" Wes asked eagerly. "Believe me, the dangers ain't a problem, and the weirdoes usually go down when you use a flamethrower on 'em…"

"Should be a smooth sailing…" Palmer said, obviously considering his words carefully.

_Yeah. Like that last time_.

"…but you're better off not making any unnecessary racket," Palmer continued. "You're both competent trainers and capable of defending yourselves, but if Team Rocket and Team Plasma decide to mount a joint attack, you can just forget about everything."

"Sounds fun!" Wes said and clapped his hands exaggeratedly, bouncing up and down like an over-excited schoolgirl. "C'mon, Kris, Kanto awaits. Never been there m'self."

"The whole region is relieved to hear that," Kris remarked as she and Wes walked towards the stairs, ready to leave the place.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Magnet Train, en route to Saffron City  
>December 6<strong>__**th**__**, 2099. 1:08 PM**_

Both Kris and Wes got suspicious already when discovering that they were only passengers in the single railcar that traveled towards Kanto with amazing speed, the trees and houses seen only as blurs from the window. Despite going at a speed of 340 mi/h, the railcar moved smoothly and softly.

Kris and Wes sat next to each other while Croc sat behind them, taking up two seats. The trip had progressed in relative silence, both of them nervously anticipating something odd to happen. Or, at least Kris did, spending her time looking out of the window and nervously biting on her nails and hair.

"Say, Kris," Wes finally said. "Didcha notice that we're the only ones in this train?"

Kris' nervous tics stopped for a moment when she glared at Wes. Was he serious? "Oh, wow, look at that!" she exclaimed loudly, deciding to be sarcastic anyway. "Yeah, how about that, what a mystery… so, uh, there's a driver in the cab, right?"

Both Kris and Wes leaned to look at the front section of the train. There was a driver's cab on both ends of the train. The other one was empty at the moment, of course, while the other one's door was closed and the door's window was covered by black paint, suspiciously enough.

"Well, I'll go and ask him what the deal is," Wes said and got up. "Can't be too careful, after all."

Easily maintaining his balance in spite of the train's speed, Wes walked to the door leading to the driver's cab and knocked on the glass.

"Hello?" Wes said loudly as he knocked, but got no response.

He shrugged at Kris, then tried knocking again. Still no response from the cab. Suspiciously, Kris got up as well, her Feraligatr watching her carefully, ready to sink its claws and teeth on anyone who tried to harm her.

"Isn't this thing computerized anyway?" Kris asked Wes, mostly to calm herself down, though she felt queasy as she said - something was definitely not right.

"Yeah, but they still need a driver to flip the switch and spend the rest of the trip in the cab readin' disreputable magazines," Wes reasoned. "Hmm… I wonder if they have '_The Trainer and her Tentacruel'_ in there…"

"Ah, screw this, I ain't waiting," Kris said, again cursing to herself for starting to talk like Wes. "Croc!" she yelled. "Come over here and punch through this door!"

Kris' Feraligatr made a gesture that looked like a half-assed salute, then marched towards Kris and Wes, who both scuttled away as Croc pulled back its humongous fist, ready to smash the blackened window.

Suddenly, just as Feraligatr was ready to punch the door, a tall, rugged man with a noticeable black moustache stepped out of the cab, dressed in full black Team Rocket uniform and wearing a domino mask.

"Ta-dah!" Fernando announced. "Fernando is my name and-"

*_punch_*

Fernando had no time to dodge as Croc cracked his nose with its big blue fist, sending the man flying backwards into the driver's cab. Disoriented and holding his nose, Fernando got up slowly.

"…mayhem… game… Fernando… me… what?"

Embarrassed, Kris ran to Fernando, but didn't help him get up, just watched as he struggled to get up and pinched his bleeding nose. Wes, on the other hand, quickly pulled a Poké Ball from his belt.

"Easy, Wes," Kris said. "It's one of Palmer's men!"

"Sure doesn't look like it," Wes argued, still holding a Poké Ball in hand. "You didn't notice the big red 'R' on his chest?"

"Mine is more of a purple shade, methinks," Fernando mumbled woozily, then shook his head a bit to get things in control again. "Kris, damn it! Keep your gator on a leash!"

"It's a crocodile!" Kris argued, then looked at her Feraligatr and tried to decide. "Or is it? I dunno, that's not important. What are you doing here? Palmer told _us_to handle this operation ourselves!"

"I'm glad you asked!" Fernando announced, and sounded like that too, staring to twirl his moustache with his finger and strut around the railcar as if he owned the place, while theatrically narrating his plan: "Not long after you left, we discovered that we needed to change the plan a little. With my cunning, my skills and my dashingly good looks, of course, I managed to infiltrate this self-propelled railway vehicle and come to your rescue!"

"Rescue from what?" Wes asked suspiciously, not wanting to hear the story.

"You must be Wesley," Fernando said, looking at Wes from head to toe and sneering. "Oh, well, you'll have to do…"

Offended, Wes looked at his clothes, wondering what the hell Fernando was talking about. Kris tried to hold back laughter, pleased to see Wes meet someone who was infinitely more boisterous than he was.

"We must make haste!" Fernando proclaimed and stepped back into the driver's cab, ready to fiddle with the controls. "Though Giovanni recognizes me, the average Grunt has no idea about my existence, allowing me to infiltrate their ranks and observe their behavior… the info I gathered revealed that a massive amount of Rocket Grunts are pouring into Saffron City! They might know we're heading there."

"They already tried the same thing all those years ago," Kris said. "The locals aren't too happy to see any more Rockets after the Silph takeover…"

"Yes, _that_ is why they're operating in _secret_!" Fernando said, stressing every word carefully as if talking to a child. "They probably are swarming around the station right now, so…"

Fernando pulled a switch on the Magnet Train's dashboard. Steadily, the train started to lose some speed, finally coming to a gentle stop in the middle of the tracks. Kris peeked out of the railcar's window, seeing the skyscrapers of Saffron City in a distance - only a minute or two and the train would have reached it. Kris then looked down - the tracks were elevated high, and it was a long drop down.

"Now what?" Wes asked Fernando.

"The contact made a rearrangement," Fernando explained. "We're meeting them in the Underground Pathway below Saffron City. We better hurry! Of course, there is one other puzzling predicament: the doors are not designed to open when-"

"Croc, Hydro Pump!" Kris ordered.

Kris, Wes and Fernando stood back as Kris' Feraligatr blasted the Magnet Train's doors away with a powerful stream of water. Kris nodded appreciatively.

"Nice one," she said.

"You always have to exaggerate," Wes remarked, but didn't sound annoyed at all. "A lady after my own heart…"

"I assure you that you can keep it," Kris remarked. "Now, how are we going to get down?" she asked, walking to the doorframe and looking at the drop, which had to be around forty feet.

"Not to worry," Fernando announced before Wes could open his mouth and offer a solution. "I don't have any rope with me, but this is just as good. Victreebel, go!"

Fernando chucked a Poké Ball on the train's floor. As it opened, a Pokémon resembling a grass-type Pokémon resembling a yellow carnivorous plant with big green leaves and an enormous mouth appeared. The Victreebel screeched in appreciation of getting out of the Poké Ball, then bounced to the doorframe.

"Whip out your vine, Victreebel!" Fernando shouted, much to Kris and Wes' amusement.

The long brown vine that seemed to come out of Victreebel's mouth started to grow, allowing Victreebel to use it like a rope. Fernando grabbed the vine and started to tie it around Wes' belly. Wes just watched as Fernando fastened the "rope". Victreebel didn't seem to mind.

"All right, Wesley!" Fernando said. "Jump!"

"But I-"

"Hurry!"

"AAAAHH-!"

Fernando pushed Wes out of the train. For a brief moment, Kris and Fernando just listened to Wes' screaming, but didn't hear a loud thud or other impact noises, as Victreebel tightened the vine just before Wes hit the ground. It then let go of Wes, allowing him to land softly.

Kris recalled Croc, figuring that it would be too heavy for Victreebel, then allowed Fernando tie the rope around her. Not wanting to be touched by Fernando, Kris jumped down on her own volition.

She felt a sickening sensation as she fell towards the ground, fearing that Victreebel would forget to stop the fall. It felt as if it was a bungee jump with an overly long cord, Kris expecting all her bones to break as she would smash on to the ground.

But then Kris felt the uncomfortable sensation of Victreebel's vine tightening around her stomach. Kris held back the gag reflex, and just allowed herself to be limp as Victreebel let go of Kris, dropping her softly on the grass as well.

Finally, Fernando jumped himself, gracefully landing on the ground. He recalled Victreebel and waited for Kris and Wes to get up gather themselves, as if he did these sorts of things every day.

"Well, come on then, time is moolah, as they say!" Fernando said impatiently, tapping an imaginary wristwatch.

Kris stood up and scanned her surroundings. The rail bridge and the immobile railcar were above them, with the wilderness of Route 8 (Celadon City-Saffron City) around them. No trainers around, but no Rocket Grunts either.

"Well, where's the ambush?" Kris wondered. "Or the dozens of Rockets pouring into Saffron City? Is this another one of Palmer's tricks. Or…" Kris paused and pointed an accusatory finger at Fernando. "…one of Giovanni's tricks? You used to work for him, after all. How do you know that-"

"Shh!"

Fernando shushed Kris and suddenly hid behind one of the support beams of the rail bridge. Kris and Wes looked at each other, then followed suit. Fernando looked up to the sky, watching and listening intently to something that neither Kris nor Wes could see or hear.

"What?" Kris whispered.

"Look," Fernando said.

Kris had to squint - the sun was up high and bright even in December, so it was hard to see…

"There!"

A swarm of birds high in the air? No, not birds… they were coming down, descending towards the rail bridge. Probably around fifty blue, purple-winged… bats? A big swarm of Zubat and Golbat were flying towards the Magnet Train. While this was unusual, there probably wasn't anything to be concerned about when it was just wild Pokémon…

Wes wordlessly offered Kris his binoculars, and Kris tried to catch a better look at the bat swarm. There seemed to be a Golbat that was the 'leader' of the group, flying closest to the train. There was something around the Golbat's little leg… a camera with a teeny-tiny lens. The bats flew inside the railcar and Wes gulped.

"Gee, I'm glad we got out now," he muttered, wondering how it felt to be bitten by fifty bats at once.

"The Rockets sent these," Fernando said. "They knew you were coming… lucky for you that I happened to be here. Now let's see… ah-hah!"

Fernando had spotted a small, run-down shack very close by, with a broken sign in front of it. Fernando signaled Kris and Wes to follow, then started running towards the shack. Reluctantly, Kris and Wes got out from their safe hiding spot and started following. Before caching up with Fernando, Kris pulled Wes' collar and dragged him closer to her.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't trust that Fernando guy," Kris warned. "Even if he's not working for Giovanni, he's totally devoted to Palmer, not us. Got it?"

"I… yeah, uh," Wes looked at Fernando nervously, then turned back to Kris. "Why are you telling me this?"

"Do I need to spell it out?" Kris asked. "I trust you, not him."

"Well, I can't blame ya," Wes smirked.

Before Fernando could start complaining about the slowness of the two, Kris and Wes caught up with him. Fernando grabbed the broken sign from the ground, trying to read the fading words while muttering to himself:

"…something_… _something_… sealed indefinitely_…blurry words… _ill-mannered trainer battles_…". Fernando then turned to Kris and Wes. "We can get to the Underground Path here. But the police have ordered this place closed down, so I guess we have to…"

Kris and Wes gave a murderous look at Fernando, who slapped his forehead and laughed.

"Oh, of course, silly me," he said and kicked the door open, shouting 'heeyah!' in the process.

Kris, Wes and Fernando ran inside the Underground Path. Inside the dark, run-down shack, there was only a dead houseplant, some broken chairs, a bookcase and a hatch in the floor. Fernando opened it, revealing a staircase leading to the even darker Underground Path. Fernando lit a flashlight, and descended into the dark tunnel below.

"Wait!" Wes said. "What if those bats follow us? I mean, it's not that I'm afraid, just trying to have a discussion here… is all…"

"I have an idea," Kris said. "Go on ahead."

Wes followed Fernando into the tunnel, and Kris stepped on the stairs as well. She kept the hatch open just enough for her to aim her Pokétch at the bottom of the bookcase. Using another one of her Pokétch powers, she fired a Water Gun towards the bookcase, which started to wobble. Kris closed the hatch just in time for the bookcase to fall on top of it, effectively concealing it.

Making sure she couldn't open the hatch anymore, Kris lit the flashlight of her Pokétch.

The Underground Path was a long, straightforward tunnel. This one connected Route 7 and Route 8 to each other, allowing commuters to go from Lavender Town to Celadon City or vice versa, without having to stop at Saffron along the way. The tunnel was wide enough for Kris, Wes and Fernando to stand by side, with plenty of ventilation shafts and sewage pipes placed all over on the walls, on both sides of the tunnel, placed near the ceiling. None of the lamps in the ceiling seemed to function and there was a thick layer of dust on the ground. The narrow beams of light coming from Fernando's flashlight and Kris' Pokétch were the only sources of light for now.

Slowly, Kris, Wes and Fernando started to walk forward, towards east, expecting to see their contact any minute now.

"Should we call out to him… her… it?" Wes whispered.

"A capital idea, sport!" Fernando said loudly before Kris could reply anything. "Oi! Pokémon researcher person! We're here!"

"Shh!" both Kris and Wes said in unison.

"What?"

Suddenly, they heard footsteps close by, echoing well in the dark tunnel. Kris, Wes and Fernando got closer to each other. Kris felt that Wes shivering, though she decided not to point about it: he would have just said that he felt cold.

"Uh… anyone there?" Kris asked, waving the Pokétch in her wrist around, expecting the beam of light to hit their contact any minute now.

"_Over here_! _Turn off the lights first!_"

They finally heard the researcher's voice - it was a woman, the voice coming from very close by. Kris and Fernando gazed at each other - a perfect opportunity for a trap. But then, Team Rocket couldn't possibly know they were in the tunnel… so, Kris pressed a button on her Pokétch to turn off its light, while Fernando turned off his flashlight. Kris' Pokétch screen glowed in the dark, though, but otherwise it was pitch dark in the tunnel.

Then they heard the sound of someone scratching a match. A torch was lit behind the trio, and as they turned around, they finally got a good look of their contact. Kris squinted - was that really _her_?

Kris was expecting a mousy nerd in a lab coat, but instead - well, she _was_ a nerd, but not mousy and not wearing a lab coat. She was a young woman, same age as Kris, but slightly taller and healthier-looking, being less scrawny. She had long, waist-length brown hair and big blue eyes, and was wearing a blue tank top, a red skirt and a white porkpie hat with a Pokéball-logo on it. She was also carrying a brown shoulder bag.

"Leaf?" Kris said in disbelief.

Leaf didn't look too surprised herself, just smiled at Kris as she approached her - had she been expecting Kris or what?

"It's been a while," Leaf said predictably.

"Uh… yes," Kris said. _Okay, this is way beyond coincidence_, she thought to herself. "It's, uh… I… so, _you're_the Pokémon researcher I was supposed to recruit?"

"Uh huh," Leaf said. "That Mr. Palmer dude told me you've been busy, but if you don't mind, I don't wanna hear about what you've been doing before this. Not now. We need a plan."

Leaf started pacing back and forth in the tunnel, adjusting her shoulder bag while thinking intensely. Though Leaf had always been smart, resourceful and prepared, Kris wasn't expecting her to be this confident.

"So, who are these guys?" Leaf asked, pointing at Wes and Fernando who were standing around uncomfortably in the light of Leaf's torch.

"Oh, this is Wes, wannabe cowboy, bounty hunter and avid storyteller from Orre," Kris said, introducing Wes, who politely raised his cowboy hat at Leaf. "This is Fernando, some guy working for Palmer. Guys, this is Leaf - she used to be a member of the science team back at Extranormal Operations."

"Ah, yes, you mentioned her earlier," Wes said and smiled at Leaf. "How'd you do, ma'am? Uh… nice hat."

"Please don't call me 'ma'am'," Leaf said tensely. She raised her torch a bit, realizing that Fernando was wearing Team Rocket colors, and was highly suspicious of his domino mask as well. "Uh, Kris…?" she said, nodding in Fernando's direction.

"Oh, the outfit?" Kris said. "Nah, don't worry, he's our mole inside Team Rocket. Or so he claims. Whatever, I don't care."

Leaf had apparently picked on Kris' unenthusiastic tune. "Same old Kris," she said. "I thought you'd be more happy to see me."

"Well I'm sorry if I'm not squealing in delight or hugging you or some crap like that," Kris said, "but I find this a little shady. Palmer said he didn't know who the contact was going to be - said you wanted to 'remain anonymous'."

"Huh," Leaf said, tongue in cheek and her brains clearly working over the thousands of possibilities. Eventually, she shook her head rapidly. "Well, no matter, it's not important. We need to figure out a way to… oh, yeah, did Palmer tell you about our deal?"

Both Kris and Wes groaned loudly. _Why doesn't anyone just leave whatever they are doing and join us_? Fernando, on the other hand, wasn't paying attention to the conversation at all. He was standing away from the others, his ear pressed against the wall for some reason.

"What do you want us to do so you can join us and help save the world from something and blah blah blah?" Kris asked, unable to hide the fact that she really wasn't up to this.

First, Leaf took out a little electronic gizmo from her pocket. She aimed it at the ceiling and pressed a button: briefly, Kris was blinded when all the lamps in the ceiling were turned on, allowing Leaf to put out her torch.

Leaf wrung her hands nervously while she started pacing back and forth again. Her anguished expression and the way she occasionally fiddled with the strap of her shoulder bag signaled Kris that it was something important.

"Surely you heard what happened to Silver?" Leaf asked Kris.

"Oh, who might this Silver be?" Wes inquired politely. Kris slapped her forehead - _I just told you that yesterday, you moron!_Leaf eyed Wes suspiciously before answering.

"My… my ex-boyfriend," Leaf replied avoidantly, "but that makes it sound more simpler than it is… I…"

"You know we're not interested in your affairs," Fernando cut in rudely from afar, his ear still pressed against the tunnel's wall. "Tell us what you need, we'll do it and then we get out. Simple as cake!"

"All right…"

Leaf sighed. She didn't looked annoyed, just increasingly anxious, but she still spoke quickly and confidently, most likely having rehearsed this speech a million times while waiting for Kris and the others:

"When Silver stopped working for Extranormal Operations, he went straight to his father, Giovanni," Leaf explained. "I don't know what drove Silver to him; we're talking about a man who abandoned his son when he was a child and never expressed any remorse. I was… I know we weren't together anymore at that point, but I was worried… I feared Giovanni would just hurt Silver again. And that's exactly what happened."

"_What _happened, exactly?" Kris asked curiously - she already knew that Silver was hurt, but she never heard the details of this affair.

"We'd have to ask Silver himself," Leaf said. "I managed to get Silver to relative safety, but now Team Rocket has found him. Whatever they want from him, it can't be good. In exchange for working with you… I want you guys to help me get Silver out of here. He's in Saffron City at the moment."

"But, you're not together anymore," Wes said. Kris glared at him, but oddly enough, Wes' usual lechery was nowhere to be seen, and it didn't sound like Wes was trying to hit on Leaf - even if his eyes sometimes escaped to Leaf's chest level. "Why are you doing all this to him, then?" Wes asked.

"Because…" Leaf paused before continuing and bit her lip. Kris stared at her. Did she even know herself? Finally, Leaf seemed to come up with an answer: "Well, I… I still care about him, of course. I mean, he's a human being, after all, and I like to think that I'm, you know, humane! I _know_he's in trouble. If I don't do anything, it's as bad as me killing him personally!"

"It is?" Wes asked, pondered for a moment, then shrugged with an 'oh well' expression on his face.

"Before we go," Kris said, "I want to know what we're doing _after_that. Palmer is still tight-lipped about this whole thing. The only thing I gathered is that we're saving the world from… something. Or are we? I don't even know anymore…"

She glanced at Fernando, but he didn't acknowledge Kris' words in any way. Did Fernando know anything? Kris knew that Wes in on the deal because of the reward. _And because I helped him_, Kris liked to think. Were Fernando's reasons the same?

"Beats me," Leaf said and shrugged, much to Kris' disappointment. "I _do_know that it's important… the stuff he asked me to do had something to do about legendary Pokémon…"

"Explain," Kris said, but decided that she needed to work on her people skills a bit, so she added "please".

Leaf showed Kris the gizmo she had used to turn on the tunnel's lights. Now that Kris got a closer look, she saw what kind of machine it was: it was a wristwatch like the Pokétch, only bigger and seemed to have more features. The screen was bigger, too, and Kris figured that it was a touch screen, since the gizmo had no buttons.

"This is the C-Gear," Leaf explained. "Invented by a scientist from Unova, some Fennel person, I think. It has become one of the most important tools a Pokémon researcher can have. The civilian model is much more simple, of course. What I have _looks_ identical, but we're talking about a supercomputer that I can carry around my wrist."

Wes yawned loudly in protest of Leaf's incoming babble, but Leaf ignored him and continued her explanation with a spark in her eyes, lovingly detailing what the C-Gear did:

"This thing has everything the civilian model has, the most important feature being the Xtransceiver, allowing instant communication, with or without a camera. But _my_ model also allows instant access to almost any computer system I want thanks to a program installed here, which allows me to bypass most password-protected systems and simple electronic locks with a click of a button. With a camera, a recorder and a scanner, up to 50 TB of data can be recorded and saved to the central memory. There's an additional 10 TB of memory reserved for 'classified' information which can only be accessed with the built-in retinal scanner. Back when I was working for ENO, only me and Professor Kaminko could access the data, and now that Kaminko got himself arrested and lost all clearance, I hold all the research that was conducted in the base during the four years. Everything related to Heatran, Darkrai, the Lunar Wing, the Magma Rock, the Regis, the Genesect Project, the plates of origin… and none of it can be accessed without _my_ say-so. It is built to withstand any hacking attempts, and even then the hacker would have to shift through an endless amount of info about a Cubone's skeletal structure before getting to anything interesting. The C-Gear is waterproof, heatproof and has an internal battery that lasts years."

"What happens if you drop it on the ground?" Kris asked curiously.

"Better buy a new one in that case," Leaf said. "Anyway, I'm sure Palmer wants some of this important data for something. He also said he needed a 'Pokémon analyst', whatever that means in practice."

Kris looked at her own Pokétch - sure, it was a special model, with a built-in PokéDex and PokéNav, and the implants in her brain allowed her to use Pokémon attacks with it… but suddenly it just didn't feel enough when compared to the C-Gear.

Fernando hadn't listened to any of this. All of the sudden, he pulled his ear away from the wall and ran to the others with a horrified look on his face - at least in the part of his face that was visible under the domino mask and the moustache.

"We have to go!" he yelled. "They're here! They found us!"

"I don't see anything…" Wes muttered.

But Wes was quickly silenced as the whole group heard ominous growling. It echoed all around them, as if there were monsters in every direction. They came from the ceiling, the walls, the floor…

"They're in the sewer pipes!" Leaf screamed.

And as if on cue, something started to crawl out every pipe: possibly seven or eight Grimer, Pokémon made completely out of poisonous purple sludge squeezed into the tunnel through the pipes, their non-solid bodies easily squeezing through the pipes. Following the Grimer was its evolution, the bigger and even more disgusting Muk.

Kris immediately noticed an unimaginably foul smell that the many Grimer and Muk emitted, being effectively more dangerous than the actual Pokémon. The noisome odor made Kris' nose burn and her eyes water, and she was already having the disgusting yet familiar feeling of her breakfast making its way back up again.

"I'll…" Wes was about to say something with his usual pompous tone, but started coughing violently when the stench overpowered him. "…I'll stop them… *cough* …damn it, I can't see jack! Espeon, go!"

Having to cover his face with his other hand, Wes used his free hand to chuck a Poké Ball blindly. He still summoned the right Pokémon, as the lavender-colored, cat-like Pokémon soon materialized, ready to fight the poisonous piles of crud that started to slide towards the group. _Hopefully it'll do better than against Domino_, Kris though and pinched her nose.

"Psybeam!" Wes yelled.

The red gem on Espeon's forehead started shining, and it blasted a powerful multicolored beam of energy towards the Grimer. It managed to KO one of them, but more and more kept pouring in through the pipes.

Espeon kept firing Psybeams at them, keeping them at bay, but its legs started trembling. Kris guessed that the foul odor in the tunnel was starting to make it dizzy. Kris briefly thought about summoning Croc for help, but Leaf had a much more desirable idea.

"Let's get out of here!" she shouted, her voice muffled as she held the collar of her tank top on her face to get away from the stench. "Wes, come on!"

Kris, Leaf and Fernando started running towards east, away from the sludge Pokémon. Desperately, Wes still yelled muffled orders to his Espeon, but then one of the Grimer got close enough to throw sludge at the Espeon's face, knocking it unconscious. Wes recalled Espeon and started running after the others.

"The other end of the tunnel is at Route 7!" Fernando yelled while running ahead of all the others thanks to his long legs. "I can't run that far! Doctor's orders!"

"Suck it up, trooper!" Kris yelled. "We just have to… crap!"

Something was coming from the other end of the tunnel. First, the group heard the sound of several dozen little wings flapping. Then, the dozens of Zubat and Golbat were visible at the other end, rapidly moving towards the group. With the sludge Pokémon behind them and the bat Pokémon in front of them, the group was pretty much screwed.

Kris quickly summoned her Feraligatr. The moment it left the Poké Ball, Croc started gagging and coughing, not expecting the overwhelming stink. Nonetheless, it held its ground.

"Don't let the bats get us!" Kris yelled at her Pokémon. "Use Ice Beam!"

Croc swept the entire corridor with the freezing beam of energy, but only managed to take out a handful of Zubat, while more and more were approaching. Wes quickly summoned another Pokémon to help, releasing Zebstrika from its ball. Surprisingly, Zebstrika didn't seem to mind the smell.

"Thunderbolt!" Wes yelled.

Zebstrika's powerful electric attack swept the tunnel too, taking out more Zubat and two Golbat as well. And yet, they just kept on coming, their fellow bats ignoring the unconscious Zubat and Golbat twitching on the floor.

"Wes, I have an idea!" Kris shouted quickly. "I'll drench this entire tunnel. Then, you-"

"-yeah, I get it!" Wes said excitedly. "Just say the word and ZAP! We have a hallway of flash-boiled bats!"

"Croc, Hydro Pump!"

Kris' Feraligatr once again swept the corridor, drenching the incoming bats, the walls, the ceiling and the floor ahead with water. The water pressure knocked out a few Zubat out, too.

"Zebstrika, Thunderbolt!"

Wes' Zebstrika launched another powerful stream of electricity from its horn, electrifying the entire tunnel. Pieces of plaster fell from the ceiling as the electric attack zapped about thirty Zubat and Golbat unconscious. Their little bodies fell on the floor, with smoke pouring out from some of them.

Leaf turned away from the sight. "That's awful!" she yelled.

"Oh, please!" Kris snapped. "Would it be better if they had sucked us dry? It's them or us!"

"SLUDGE!" Fernando bellowed.

Kris, Wes, Leaf, Fernando, Croc and Zebstrika all ducked as a Grimer crawled from a sewer pipe and hurled a big blob of sludge in the group's direction. The sludge hit the wall instead, and Croc retaliated by freezing the Grimer solid with an Ice Beam.

Wordlessly, Kris recalled Croc and the group started running again, Zebstrika in the lead, galloping quickly and zapping every Grimer that tried to attack them from the sewer pipes. Kris also noticed Koffing in the ventilation shafts, trying to poison them with gas.

Then the sound of wings flapping was audible again, getting louder and louder…

"Not again!" Kris groaned as another batch of Zubat and Golbat started to approach them, ignoring their unconscious comrades. "We'll never make it to the other end!"

"Guys, over there!" Leaf yelled, pointing at a ladder on the left side of the tunnel. "We can get to Saffron through there!"

Zebstrika launched another Thunderbolt towards the bats. The group had no idea to watch how many bats they took out as they all clustered around the ladder. Wes recalled Zebstrika, but three Muk were making their way towards the group.

"Son of a-" Wes cursed his bad timing.

"Don't worry, I got it!" Leaf said confidently, taking a Poké Ball from her shoulder bag. "Start climbing!"

Fernando was quick to obey, grabbing the ladder and starting to climb towards the hatch at the top. Kris scoffed audibly when Leaf opened the Poké Ball. _She's just a scientist_, Kris thought. _Has she ever even seen a Pokémon battle outside a textbook?_

And when a tiny Cubone came out from the ball, Kris felt like scoffing even louder if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Seriously?" Wes laughed, thinking along the same lines as Kris as he watched the puny brown Pokémon with a skull helmet and a bone club. "You gonna kill those Muk with laughter?"

Leaf rolled her eyes at Wes' comment. "Bonemerang!" she shouted.

To both Kris and Wes' surprise, the little Cubone immediately hurled its bone club towards its opponents. The bone hit the first Muk, bounced off, hit the second Muk, bounced off again and finally knocked out the third Muk before smoothly returning to the hand of the Cubone.

Kris and Wes watched in embarrassment as the three Muk collapsed unconsciously. Leaf smirked at them.

"I managed to salvage a few Pokés from the base before it was destroyed," she said and recalled the Cubone "Funny what years of inhumane experiments does to their morale."

Leaf didn't even wait for a 'thank you' from Kris or Wes as she started climbing up the ladder. Wes watched Leaf's ascent appreciatively, smiling as she watched Leaf climb.

"Wes!" Kris whispered sharply, poking Wes in the ribs. "Are you looking up her skirt?"

"A bit," Wes admitted. "If you ask me, she should wear something more modest-"

"Start climbing!" Kris grunted and pushed Wes towards the ladder, really hoping that he was just joking.

Wes gave Kris a half-assed salute, then grabbed the ladder and started climbing.

But he let out a high-pitched shriek when a Golbat suddenly swooped towards him. Kris dodged, but Wes couldn't let go of the ladder, so he held on with one hand and tried to smack it away with the other. The Golbat dodged Wes' punch and grabbed his cowboy hat with its teeth, stealing it from him.

"Hey!" Wes yelled after the Golbat as it flew away. "The store that sells those no longer exists! C'mon, come back!"

"Wes, _climb_!" Kris shouted. "_Now_!"

As more and more Golbat - this time supported by a bunch of Koffing and Weezing - started to come out of the ventilation shafts, Wes forgot about his lost hat and started to climb up the ladder. Kris didn't wait until Wes reached the surface but immediately followed suit.

The two got out of the tunnel just as another swarm of Zubat was about to eat them. Kris, the last one to exit the tunnel, closed the hatch after her. She then sat on the ground, feeling ready to collapse due to exhaustion. Leaf and Fernando were similarly tired, while Wes was just scratching his head and feeling lost without his cowboy hat.

Kris had to stifle her laughter, amused by Wes' misplaced priorities. Since Kris had her little yellow hech cap, Fernando had the Rocket Grunt hat and Leaf had her porkpie hat, Wes felt out of place. _Never underestimate the bond between a guy and his hat, I suppose_, Kris thought.

Leaf got up and wiped the dust off her clothes. Kris noticed that Wes constantly eyeing Leaf's legs, which annoyed her. Firstly, because _eugh, what a perv_. Secondly, because… _so I'm not nice enough to look at? Not that I want it, of course, and if I ever catch him doing that, then POW! But still…_

Kris was snapped out of her paranoid thoughts by Leaf's next comment:

"Well, we're here," she said.

The whole group looked around them. They had arrived right in the middle of Saffron City, the pedestrians around them so busy that no one noticed four people suddenly popping up on the street, fresh from the sewer. There were tall office buildings all around them, but right across the street was a big building with a large red cross painted on the side.

"Saffron Hospital," Leaf stated. "Silver is kept here." She paused and looked up the roof, then pointed and shouted: "Look!"

Kris, Wes and Fernando looked at the roof as well. They had to take a couple of steps backwards, seeing as the hospital was so tall that they were close to getting severe neck trauma for the looking.

A helicopter had landed on the roof, and people in light blue medic uniforms were carrying a man on a stretcher. Two Chansey wearing nurse caps took the stretcher from them, carrying it inside the hospital. _Seems like a completely normal emergency_, Kris thought. She took the binoculars that Wes offered her to get a better look of the man on the stretcher.

The man was big, built like a linebacker, with a pale, gaunt face. It was like he had gone through so many plastic surgeries that his face wasn't even human's, but more like something out of a wax museum. Just before the Chansey carried the man through a door, his eyelids opened, revealing a pair of black, completely empty eyes. The man grinned diabolically, but the Chansey didn't seem to notice. That man was not sick, that was for sure.

_But who was that?_ Kris wondered. _Had Team Rocket arrived already? _But the helicopter that carried him, while black and obviously not made for medical emergencies, didn't have the 'R'-symbol on it…

Leaf seemed to recognize the man on the stretcher, however.

"That was Giovanni," she said.

Kris pushed the binoculars back to Wes and didn't say a word. The look on Leaf's face was determined as she turned to face the others.

"Team Rocket has arrived," Leaf said tensely. "We better hurry. I have planned this out, but we have less time than I thought. Come on."

Leaf started to walk towards the hospital, and Wes and Fernando followed him, albeit uncertainly.

But Kris didn't follow. She looked at the hospital, remembering something she heard back in Orre: "…_according to our intelligence, they revived her in the Saffron Hospital, but her condition is bad…_" "…_we already received the info regarding Ms. Soul. We own the hospital in question…_"

Lyra was here. Kris knew it. But they were there to break out Silver, not Lyra. At least, that was the mission at hand. _Oh, bollocks_! _Now what?_ Was there time to break out both of them? Was Team Rocket after Lyra, too? What if they already moved her away?

_Well, I'll figure something out, I guess_…

Kris followed Wes, Leaf and Fernando as the group stepped into the hospital.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Well, these chapters just can't get any shorter, can they? Well, the next one will be, I swear. *sigh* I have no idea what Kris' hat is supposed to be. I guess it could be yarmulke or something, but for now I'm going to settle with 'round yellow thing on her head'. I was also supposed to upload chapter eight together with this one, but it's not quite done yet and I want to keep updating regularly, so... won't be but a day or two.  
><strong>_

_**Coming up next: Chapter Eight, 'Intensive Care', where the team tries to break Silver out of the hospital in the middle of a Team Rocket invasion while Kris also meets other familiar faces from her past.**_


	8. Intensive Care

**Chapter Eight: Intensive Care**

_**Location: Central Hospital, Saffron City, Kanto**_

Kris, Wes, Leaf and Fernando stepped inside the hospital, observing the situation. Inside, everything seemed calm: they were in the reception lobby, with people calmly sitting and waiting their turns, while occasionally a human doctor or a Chansey would walk by. Behind the reception desk, there was a bored-looking old woman receptionist smoking a cigarette. Nothing seemed to imply that a gang of Yakuza-wannabes had infiltrated the hospital.

"So, I assume that there's a plan?" Fernando asked - he had turned the shirt of his Rocket uniform inside out, not wanting the hospital's security to shoot him on sight.

Leaf simply nodded and signaled the group to follow her. The four passed the reception desk without drawing too much attention to themselves, turning past the desk and going through a door.

Behind the door was a staircase leading to the basement, but the group stayed near the door, Leaf using her C-Gear to lock it. Making sure it was soundproof and that the corridor they were in had no cameras, Leaf started fiddling with her C-Gear again. Kris, Wes and Fernando patiently waited for her to finish.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, before finally turning to the others and holding her wrist up, allowing the others to see the screen of her C-Gear. "I have the map of this hospital right here," she explained. "I'll fill you in on the plan: one of us will have to remain in the basement."

Leaf pointed to the staircase labeled 'B1'.

"There should be a security room with access to the hospital's surveillance system there," Leaf said. "There might be guards present, so we'll need someone to take them out in complete silence. The rest…"

Leaf started to fiddle with her C-Gear again. The others got closer to her so they could look at the C-Gear over her shoulder.

"…we split up and go look for Silver," she finished. "He is most likely kept in a private room in one of the wards. I have no idea what his injuries were in the first place, and there are six different wards, labeled from A to F, located on the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh floors, the seventh being the top floor."

"So we need to search every one of them," Kris groaned, not wanting to waste any time - she still hadn't told Leaf about her desire to look up Lyra. "Surely no one will notice if we look into _every _room."

"Good thing we don't need to do that, then," Leaf said irritably. "Thanks to the little changes the Committee has made, every single patient room has a surveillance camera. Same goes for operating rooms, staff rooms, offices, the lab… a program developed by the Committee receives live video feed from basically everywhere, and it responds to 'misbehavior' instantaneously. One of you guys will go into the security room…"

Leaf paused and started to go through the contents of her shoulder bag again. She then pulled out three more C-Gears, though different from the ones she had.

"Ah, civilian model C-Gears," Fernando announced pretentiously, as if it was some hidden knowledge to be proud of.

"Yeah," Leaf replied and gave Kris, Wes and Fernando each one. "They have Xtransceivers, which allow us to communicate with each other. The one in the security room will shut down alarms and blockades that Team Rocket will no doubt have set up and can then check all the patients and see where Silver is."

"So, if either Team Rocket, or one of us, starts to cause some rumpus," Wes guessed, "they probably ain't trying to get the patients out as a priority."

"The Chansey nurses won't be too happy if we barge into the rooms," Leaf said. "But the human staff here are probably more concerned about themselves and the Committee's financial interests…"

Kris frowned. Leaf sounded markedly different than when she was in charge of the science team back at ENO. Sure, she was still the same old nerd, but increasingly bitter and cynical about everything. Just like Juniper, her predecessor, had been.

"Shouldn't you go into the security room?" Fernando suggested. "I mean, let us warriors handle the… warrioring. You concentrate on the science and tech stuff."

"Nuh-uh," Leaf said and shook her head. "This is my operation, and I need to be on the frontlines. Besides, I doubt that Silver will be voluntarily going with any of you guys, seeing how many times he has been betrayed. _You_will go into the security room," Leaf added, pointing at Fernando.

"_Moi_?" Fernando shouted dramatically, pointing at himself. He seemed to consider the suggestion for an infuriatingly long time, then finally nodded.

"The security guards here aren't exactly soldiers and their Pokémon will most likely be pretty chubby as well," Leaf said. "Just get into the room, barricade the door and keep us updated. As soon as you find out where they're keeping Silver, report us. The rest of us will infiltrate the upper floors. Let's at least _try _to keep a low profile. Pretend we're visitors or something. However, if we bump into any Rocket Grunts, they will probably recognize us."

"So what happens if they do?" Kris asked.

"Well we aren't going to just go and whimper in the corner, that's for sure!" Leaf said passionately. "We're getting Silver out of here, one way or another!"

"You're the boss," Kris said and shrugged.

Beneath the surface, Kris couldn't hide her anxiety, however. The Rocket Grunts didn't sound particularly terrifying, and while Giovanni looked creepy, the image that Kris got from him was some guy in a suit giving orders behind a desk. What really concerned her was finding Lyra, and coming up with an excuse to do so. After all, she wasn't even certain that Lyra was held here…

"Let's move!" Leaf said.

Fernando saluted and headed down the stairs, towards the security room. Kris and Wes attached the C-Gears to their wrists, Kris having to use her left one as her Pokétch was in the right one.

As Leaf opened the door again, she stepped to the hospital's lobby as casually as she could, Kris and Wes following suit. Without saying a word to each other or anyone else, they stepped into the closest elevator.

Inside the elevator, Leaf punched the button labeled '4' before anyone else could come in, closing the elevator's door right in front of an irate doctor's face. When the elevator started its unbearably slow ascent towards the fourth floor, Leaf pushed a button on her C-Gear, activating the Xtransceiver.

The default screen of the C-Gear, which showed the time, was replaced with an image of, to Kris' shock, all four of the group: Kris, Wes, Leaf and Fernando. Kris positioned the Gear so the camera would point straight at her face. Fernando had apparently made it into the security room.

"Testing," Leaf said loudly, talking into the C-Gear's built-in microphone. "Check, check. Fernando, can you hear me?"

"_Loud and clear_," Fernando replied. "_Took out two security guards. They had a Conkeldurr with them, making things a bit harder than I thought, but Victreebel put them all to sleep. They ain't waking up anytime soon_."

"Good," Leaf replied tensely. "They'll notice that something is up anytime now, so prepare to-"

But Leaf was interrupted by a mechanical voice that seemed to come from everywhere, drowning out all noise as it poured from the elevator's loudspeakers:

"_**Alert. Alert. Hostiles detected. Shutting down elevators and staircase doors. Emergency elevator operable by Level 1 personnel only. All security personnel, dispatch the hostiles immediately**_."

After this announcement, the elevator stopped. The bright white light in the elevator's ceiling was turned off, leaving only the red emergency lighting behind. The elevator had conveniently stopped in the third floor, but the doors were jammed.

"They talking about us or Team Rocket?" asked Wes, who had quickly pulled out a Poké Ball from his belt.

"Doesn't matter," Leaf said. "The Rockets aren't probably going to stay in hiding for long. This hospital's going to become a war zone… quick, Kris, get the doors open?"

"Me? !" Kris yelled. "You're the one with that hi-tech gizmo thingymabob. Can't you, like, _hack _it or something…"

"Well," Leaf explained while clenching her teeth together, "even though everything from elevators to milk cartons are online nowadays, this isn't my expertise. I'm a Pokémon researcher, not a cracker. This gizmo usually does all the hard work for me, and this is way too sophisticated. I'd need a supercomputer the size of Wailord to-"

"All right, all right," Kris muttered and opened Croc's Poké Ball - she would most likely have to use it anyway.

Croc roared as it left the ball, impatiently waving its claws around so it could impale someone. Kris remembered Yellow's warning about Croc's possible instability, but she had no time for it now. Kris pointed at the elevator doors, and Croc seemed to understand the hint. Demonstrating its extreme strength, Croc started pulling the elevator doors apart, eventually forcing them open.

**_Saffron Hospital, Floor 3_**

The group, with Croc in tow, exited the elevator. The third floor contained the employee cafeteria, the offices and the dental labs. Leaf immediately checked her map.

"All right, we need to get to the stairs!" Leaf shouted over the noise of the alarm system repeating its message. "If we run to the end of this corridor," Leaf pointed at the long corridor to her left, "then turn right, we should reach the stairs. The doors are closed, of course, but I'll see what I can do."

Kris, Wes and Leaf started running along the corridor, the bulky Croc following them as quick as it could. To their left was the employee cafeteria, its windows having been shattered. Inside the cafeteria, as Leaf had predicted, were three hospital security guards fighting against four Rocket Grunts. Besides being armed with pistols, the security guards all had a Gurdurr with them. The gray, muscular Pokémon used the steel girders they were carrying to fight against the Rocket Pokémon, mostly poison-types like Koffing, Weezing and Seviper. The group could hear the guards and the Rockets yelling orders while the alarm system started repeating a different message:

**"**_**Non-patients, visitors, Level-2 personnel and administrators, take this opportunity to evacuate immediately! Medical staff, protect the patients! For the safety of the hospital, emergency exits have been closed. Exit the building through the fire doors or the entrances on the first floor**_."

"Gurdurr, Rock Throw!"

"You'll never get us alive, Rockets!"

"Surrender already!"

Leaf and Wes were running well ahead of Kris, who still wasn't in very good shape. Plus, she constantly kept turning around to make sure Croc was still with her.

"Over there!" a Rocket Grunt behind Kris shouted. "I got one! Koffing, Explosion!"

Kris turned around to see a round, purple Pokémon with a stupid look on its face float nearby her, but then she saw nothing as the Koffing suddenly blew up next to her.

The force of the explosion threw Kris off her feet, sending her flying across the corridor until she hit a wall. Everything turned to blur, but she could still faintly see Croc going on a rampage, enraged over the Rocket's attack on Kris. Croc grabbed the Rocket Grunt responsible for the injury and threw him out of the window. It then roared ferociously and attacked two other Rocket Grunts nearby.

Kris didn't hear Leaf and Wes anymore, suspecting that they hadn't noticed Kris' disappearance. Voices seemed to echo in her head and everything was slowly going black - the only thing Kris felt was a splitting, nauseating pain in her head.

Suddenly, something big, pink and egg-shaped hobbled next to Kris, making high-pitched noises of some sort.

"_Chan-see_!"

The nearby Chansey opened Kris' mouth and put something soft in there. Kris didn't think she would be able to taste it, but to her surprise, the egg tasted delicious, and was easy for Kris to chew and swallow.

Rapidly, Kris started to see things more clearly, the pain in her head starting to fade. She quickly got up on her feet and saw the Chansey smiling at her before rushing to help an unconscious Gurdurr nearby.

_Huh_, Kris thought as she watched the Chansey go._ Good thing we're in a hospital_…

"Kris, come on!" Wes yelled. He and Leaf had already reached the staircase door, Leaf doing her C-Gear magic at the door's electronic lock, which quickly popped open.

Kris whistled at Croc, who finally stopped beating up Rocket Grunts and followed its trainer. Kris and Croc ran to Wes and Leaf, leaving the security guards wondering who had helped them.

_**Saffron Hospital, Floor 4**_

"_Hey, guys, I can see you from here_!" Fernando said via the Xtransceiver. "_Man, there are probably hundreds of these cameras here. Gonna take me a while to shift through all of them_…"

Kris, Wes, Leaf and Croc ran up the stairs, entering the fourth floor. As they stepped into the corridor, they saw a badly charred sign with 'Ward A' written on it.

"We don't have a 'while', Fernando!" Leaf shouted into her wrist. "Just to do it quickly. You _do_ know what Silver looks like, right?"

"_Of course. I did spend three years spying on you guys_."

The fourth floor was in even worse condition. Six or seven security guards with Gurdurr and Machoke were desperately battling against a dozen Rocket Grunts with dozens of Poison-type Pokémon. The guards were rapidly losing their hold on the place. The Rockets did not hesitate using Pokémon attacks on humans, as Kris witnessed a Seviper spitting poisonous needle on one security guard, who was subdued by the poison in a second.

The strangest thing were the Chansey. There were six Chansey in the ward at the moment, all running amidst the combatants, healing both the security guards and the Rockets as well as their Pokémon.

The trio hid behind a desk and Kris recalled Croc. Wes noticed this odd behavior as well.

"Aww, man!" he groaned. "The Chansey are just prolonging this battle! Are they idiots or what?"

"They can't just watch when there's suffering around them!" Leaf explained. "That's just how they are. Besides, the Pokémon the Rockets are using are just slaves! Are you suggesting we should just let them suffer?"

"Well there's nothing to gain from _helping _them!" Wes argued. "I-"

"_Look out_!" Fernando yelled from the Xtransceiver. "_Charlie on your six_!"

"What?" Kris asked.

Fernando's instructions weren't quick enough, as three Rocket Grunts appeared from an office behind Kris, Wes and Leaf. They quickly dispatched an Arbok towards the group.

"Arbok, Poison Sting!"

The trio rolled out of the way of the high-speed poisonous needles that quickly destroyed the desk they had used for cover. Kris was about to grab Croc's Poké Ball again, but Wes stepped in front of her, taking out his own Poké Ball.

"I'll handle this!" he proclaimed and threw a Poké Ball in front of Arbok. Umbreon, Eevee's dark-type evolution, appeared from the ball. Its crimson eyes glowed in the dark as it hissed at the Arbok. "Umbreon, Shadow Ball!" Wes commanded.

Umbreon fired a dark, ghostly blob of energy towards the Arbok, which wasn't quick enough to dodge. The force of the attack also knocked the three Rockets off their feet, though they quickly took cover. The Arbok wasn't down either, and it attacked Umbreon, lunging at it and trying to bite it everywhere.

"Fernando, hurry up!" Leaf screamed into her Xtransceiver while Wes kept the Arbok busy.

"_Well, there are quite many… hah! Found him! Red hair, livid scowl on his face, ruggedly good-looking… huh, doesn't look like he's in bad shape. He's in a private room, in the… seventh floor, room 727!_"

"Great…" Kris groaned. "Anything we should know?"

"_Yup. There are no security guards there. Looks like the Rockets have seized the upper floors already. They haven't found him yet, but they're trying to break through the doors as you speak. Any suggestions_?"

"If you can, turn on the sprinklers in the seventh floor," Leaf suggested. "Should buy us some time…"

"_Okay… done! Hah hah hah! They're soaked! They… aw, crap! They took out the security here in the basement, too! They know I'm here_!"

"How?" Kris wondered.

"_Who cares? They're here! They're gonna get through any minute now. Good thing there's a window in here_."

"You're just going to leave?" Leaf asked in disgust.

"_What, and leave this up to you guys? Nah, hold on, I know a little something about… things. Wait a minute… there! You can now access the surveillance cameras with your C-Gear. I'm also opening the emergency elevator for you! The rest is up to you guys_!"

And with that, the quarter of the Xtransceiver's screen with Fernando's face on it went dark. Kris assumed that Fernando had gotten out of the hospital.

After that, Kris and Leaf were startled by Umbreon's anguished scream as Arbok knocked it out. Wes quickly recalled the Umbreon to protect it from further hurt.

"Little help here?" he asked.

Leaf didn't say a word, just grabbed a Poké Ball from her shoulder bag and threw it towards the Rockets. Kris expected to see the Cubone or some other puny Pokémon, but instead had to avert her eyes as the whole corridor was illuminated by the flames of Leaf's Rapidash, which instantly charged towards the Arbok and stabbed the snake with its horn.

"Rapidash, Mega Kick!" Leaf ordered.

Before the Arbok could react, Leaf's Rapidash kicked the cobra Pokémon. Its powerful, diamond-hard hooves sent the Arbok flying backwards, landing on the Rocket Grunts. Making sure their enemies were down, Leaf recalled her Rapidash.

"What are you doing?" Wes wondered. "Keep the thing ready! Tell it to use Flamethrower and we'll fry these bastards!"

"How can you even suggest that?" Leaf gasped. "Besides, this whole hospital will burn down if I use fire-type attacks. Come on!"

Kris, Wes and Leaf turned to a corridor leading to the center of the floor they were in. The Rocket Grunts and security guards were so concentrated on their battle that none of them noticed the trio running towards the emergency elevator.

The area around the elevator was clear of enemies, though littered with unconscious people and Pokémon. There was a huge hole in the ceiling above them, exposing the sewer pipes and some of the floor above them.

Kris checked her C-Gear. Flipping her way through the many security channels, she finally saw security footage of the seventh floor. The sprinklers had indeed been turned on, panicking the Rocket Grunts, causing them to slip and fall around comically. A few doors had already been opened.

But most disconcertingly, Kris saw that the emergency elevator in the seventh floor was completely surrounded by Koffing and Weezing. Kris waved at Wes and Leaf, telling them to watch as well.

"Oh, I've seen this tactic before!" Wes said, slightly laughing as he watched his C-Gear screen. "Used mostly by people who couldn't care less whether they Pokémon live through the battle or not. They put a bunch of exploding Pokémon, like Voltorb or Koffing or something to ambush the enemy. They've probably been ordered to blow up as soon as they see any non-Rocket coming. Sneaky sunuvabitches…"

"We better split up, then," Kris suggested, then pointed at the big hole above them. "Wes, your Pidgeot can fly you up through that hole, and-"

"Nah, no way!" Wes argued. "Someone has to use that elevator. It's a perfect distraction! Okay, sure, the Koffing will blow up on their face, but they'll get the others to safety."

Wes looked at his C-Gear. Though obviously frightened, he hid this behind his smile and decided to play hero.

"I'll use the elevator," Wes said confidently. "I'll have Zebstrika cover me. It'll probably absorb most of the explosion, but it'll manage. Then, I'll just use Espeon and tell it to blast any remaining ones outta the way."

"You might be right," Leaf pondered.

Kris raised her eyebrows at this. She had expected Leaf to argue that it was too dangerous or something. _She must _really_ want to get Silver out_.

"Besides, I have a Tangela," Leaf said and pulled another Poké Ball from her bag. "It can lift me through that hole and get me to the fifth floor. From there, I can probably access another set of stairs."

"All right, Kris," Wes said, browsing through the surveillance images with his C-Gear. "There's a balcony on this floor. From there, you can climb a ladder to get to the seventh floor. That is, if you're up for it."

"Sure I am," Kris said, relieved that she didn't have to think up any specifics for the plan. "And, y'know, if I accidentally let go of the ladder and become pavement pizza, at least you guys can get to Silver."

"Don't be silly, Kris," Wes said, not laughing at Kris' fatalistic remark. "You will make it. Besides, I'm doing the hard work here. See you on the far side!"

Wes grabbed a Poké Ball from his belt and opened it. Once again, his Zebstrika popped out. Together, Wes and his Zebstrika stepped into the emergency elevator. Kris nodded to him one last time before the elevator doors closed.

Kris then nodded to Leaf, who opened the Poké Ball of her Tangela. Kris herself rushed towards the balcony door. She made sure there were no hostiles nearby, and opened the door. Surprisingly, it was not locked electronically like all the others.

When Kris entered the balcony and felt a chilling breeze on her face, she understood why. She looked down over the balcony's railing, seeing the four-story drop. There were police cars all over the hospital and people had gathered around the place en masse, staring up. Some of the people below pointed at Kris, but she had no time to wonder why.

Before climbing up the ladder, she checked her C-Gear.

_Now's my chance_…

She started flipping through channels, browsing through the hundreds of surveillance cameras. She saw Rocket Grunts kicking open doors, Chansey sealing them to protect the patients, a large man in a suit calmly walking in the midst of all the chaos…

_Wait a minute_…

Kris saw something familiar in one image. The patient room being monitored was empty and the bed was made, but there was something on the nightstand… Kris zoomed in and saw a big, puffy and white marshmallow hat that had a red bowtie tied around it.

_Only a dork would wear something like that_, Kris thought. _She's here!_

But had they moved her somewhere. The image showed that Lyra's suppose room was in the sixth floor, in room 635, on the opposite side of the hospital. Deciding to go there immediately after she had helped Silver out, Kris grabbed the ladder and started climbing up.

_**Saffron Hospital, Floor 7**_

Kris entered the seventh floor through a huge hole in the wall. The sprinklers in the floor had stopped spraying water, but the entire floor was wet, forcing Kris to watch her step. She ran across the slippery corridor, watching the room numbers to her right.

_711... 712... 713..._

But Kris couldn't get far when the whole building started to shake. The tremor only lasted a second, but caused Kris to lose her balance and fall face down on the floor. As she got up on her feet quickly, she heard the distant sound of an explosion close by. _I hope Wes is okay_…

Shaking her head, Kris continued her running. The automated alarm system started repeating a different message:

"_**Attention. All attempts to defend the hospital have failed. All personnel, evacuate immediately. Security teams, pull back. Hospital is overrun by hostiles. Repeat: hospital is overrun by hostiles.**_"

_Well that didn't take long_, Kris thought, the absence of any security guards explained to her.

_Room 718... 719... 720..._

Kris checked the screen on her Xtransceiver, but she could only see herself staring back, filling just one quarter of the screen. The three other quarters were completely black. Kris hoped that Wes and Leaf had just turned off their C-Gears… that had to be it, yes… there's no way Team Rocket could get them…

_Room 727_.

Kris stopped in front of the door and looked around her. It was dark, too dark to see properly, but there didn't seem to be anyone in the hallway she was in.

Her Xtransceiver soon started beeping as well, and Kris could see the images of Wes and Leaf on the screen now.

"_I've made it to the seventh floor_," Leaf announced.

"_Yeah, ditto!_" Wes said - Kris noticed that his clothes had been singed and his face was covered in dirt. "_Those purple thingies didn't stand a chance against me! Knocked Zebstrika out cold, though, but I still got my Espeon left!_"

"Listen, guys, keep it down," Kris whispered - she still didn't see anyone, but the poorly lit hallway made her nervous. "I've reached room 727. Get over here quickly, and stay sharp! Don't make anymore noise! Do you see any Rockets?"

"_None here_," Leaf said.

"_Not anymore_," Wes grinned. "_Espeon took 'em all out_. _Won't wake up in a while_."

"Good," Kris muttered and tried to open room 727's door - unsuccessfully. "Listen, get over here, you need to hack the door and-"

Kris didn't get to say her next word, as a large Rocket Grunt sneaked up behind her and grabbed her in a chokehold, strangling her so only barely audible wheezing came out of her mouth. To Kris' horror, she saw Rocket Grunts approaching from both sides of the hallway. There had to be about six of them, along with an ominous man who was bigger than any of the grunts.

Kris could now see into Giovanni's pale, gaunt face clearly as the Rocket Boss approached her. On top of his suit, Giovanni was wearing a snazzy black overcoat and a black hat, which he raised politely upon meeting Kris. He gave a threatening smile to Kris, then an order to the Rocket Grunt choking her:

"Ease up, will you?" Giovanni said. "We don't wish to kill her, after all."

Kris took a deep breath when the Rocket Grunt stopped choking her, but still kept her tightly in his grip. Giovanni came closer to Kris, towering above her and forcing Kris to look up to him.

"You should be more careful," Giovanni said softly. "The Xtransceiver is hardly the most secure form of communication," he added, showing his wrist, which also had a C-Gear attached to it. "I'm glad we avoided any unnecessary bloodshed, though… thanks to the babbling of you and your friends, we managed to locate my precious son…"

Giovanni nodded to two of his Rocket Grunts, a male and female one, who saluted their master zealously and walked to the room's electronic lock, starting to fiddle with it.

"You'd really kill your son?" Kris croaked to Giovanni, still feeling sore in the throat after being strangled by the Rocket.

Giovanni's face remained blank, but from his tone, it sounded almost like he was offended by the question. "Kill him?" he said. "Whatever do you mean, Kris? This is a simple family reunion."

"No kidding?" Kris asked, stopping her pointless struggle against the grunt holding her. "Did you forget that _you_ were the one who caused him to end up in this hospital in the first place? Okay, so you _don't_ want to kill him, huh… so you just want the chip in his brain and _then_want to kill him?"

"Ah, yes, the PokéPower-implants," Giovanni said calmly. "The idea of using the Committee's own weapon against them intrigues me, but sadly, I have better plans. To that end, I will be needing Silver."

Giovanni glanced at the two grunts trying to open the door to Silver's room. He didn't have to say anything, as his underlings quickly started sweating and working on the lock even faster. Giovanni turned to Kris again, a creepy smile making his otherwise lifeless face even more horrible-looking as he spoke.

"Mind you, Kris, I have been watching your progress," Giovanni said. "You, too, could be useful in my plan. It's a shame you have been brainwashed by the empty promises and hollow rhetoric of others. It's a small miracle that you are even capable of thinking for yourself. I may not know who you are or where you come from, but I can already tell that I cannot persuade you to join me."

"Wow, you really understand me," Kris deadpanned. "If you'd stop sending people to kill me all the time, we could be BFF's!"

Giovanni opened his mouth to respond, but his Xtransceiver started beeping. He plugged an earpiece into his C-Gear so no one else would hear the conversation.

"Excuse me a moment," he said before turning away from Kris. "Yes, Domino, what is it? Good… and N has sent a retrieval? Excellent. What about the… ah, excellent… No, I have the situation under control here. Carry on with your mission. Over and out."

Giovanni then stopped his call and turned to Kris again, as if fearing that he was coming off as being rude, what with his henchmen trying to kill her and stuff.

"Your, err… _friends_, prevented me from accessing the roof," Giovanni explained serenely. "Fortunately my alliance with Team Plasma has given me an ample supply of technology, transportation, useful Pokémon… you get the idea."

"Not really," Kris said. "Mind if you tell me all the details of your plot so I can, you know, appreciate it better. I _totally_won't try to do anything to stop you."

Giovanni didn't laugh, just kept on smiling. He put his hat back on and nodded to the grunt still holding Kris. "There is so much to talk about, I agree," he said. "It's a shame that I really don't have the time. How's the door?" Giovanni asked, now with a hint of impatience.

"Just a couple more seconds, sir," the female grunt replied.

"Good," Giovanni said. "Kill her," he added to the grunt holding Kris.

Before Kris could scream anything or the Grunt holding her could break her neck, the door was suddenly slammed open, immediately knocking out the two Rockets.

Standing in the doorframe was Silver, looking just as Kris remembered him. His long red hair was covering his other, gray eye, and he also had more scars than Kris remembered. Comically enough, he was wearing a soft white bathrobe, but there was nothing funny in the way he aimed his Pokétch at the grunt holding Kris in his grip, scowling at him in cold, stoic fury.

"Put her down," Silver said coolly.

"Stay back!" yelled the grunt holding Kris. "Stay back, or she gets-"

Silver had no time to waste, and fired an Ice Shard from his Pokétch. Kris winced as the ice shard missed her head just barely, hitting the Rocket Grunt in the eye. The grunt let go of Kris and screamed in pain as blood sprayed from his eye. He stumbled backwards, crashed through a window behind him and fell to the concrete below, confirmed by a sickening thud that was heard after a few seconds of screaming.

The three remaining Grunts retreated when Kris got up and walked to Silver's side. They were both aiming their Pokétch's at Giovanni and the Grunts, who looked at their boss, hoping for advice. Giovanni kept his hands in his pockets as he stared at his son.

"Why, hello, Silver," Giovanni said coldly. "You made a full recovery, I see. Good to know."

"Thanks…dad," Silver said equally tensely.

Silver and Giovanni just stared at each other for a while in silence. The grunts behind Giovanni were already holding Poké Balls and they were eyeing their boss nervously, waiting for orders.

"Good aim, Silver," Kris said with audible relief as she kept her aim steady at Giovanni. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," Silver said calmly. "Hell of a way to come for a visit, Kris. I would have been happy with just a phone call."

"Oh, you don't need to thank me for this," Kris said. "You can-"

But Kris, Silver, Giovanni and the three grunts were distracted by the sound of heavy footsteps. A Blissey wearing a nurse cap approached them, no doubt trying to help the unconscious Rocket Grunts that were still pinned under the door.

"More of those things!" growled one of the grunts, then turned to his comrades. "Take it out!"

This act of hostility made Blissey's demeanor change completely. Instead of cheerfully smiling and trying to help the Rockets, it stopped on its tracks and looked… angry? Definitely unlike any Blissey Kris had seen before. It grabbed the egg from its pouch, but instead of trying to use it for healing, it hurled it towards the grunts.

Kris and Silver quickly hit the deck, and Giovanni managed to dodge the attack too, but Blissey's egg bomb blew up a big chunk of the wall, sending the three rocket grunts plummeting to their doom. Blissey then stormed away in a huff, probably regretting this action already.

The rubble caused by the explosion had partially covered Kris and Silver, who just had to watch as a helicopter with Team Plasma's shield-logo printed on it hovered towards the hospital. The helicopter stopped near the hole in the wall, allowing Giovanni to enter it.

"You've made your choice!" Giovanni yelled before the chopper took off. "Mark my words, Silver: you will regret it!"

The helicopter then took off, disappearing behind one of Saffron City's skyscrapers. Kris and Silver slowly got up on their feet again, and more footsteps were heard. Kris readier her Pokétch again, but to her relief, they were just Leaf, Wes and Wes' Espeon.

Silver seemed to freeze completely when Leaf approached him.

"_Silver_!" she squealed. "You're alive! I knew it! I…"

Leaf stopped in front of Silver. Her arms were spread as if she was about to hug him, but she stopped abruptly. Instead, Silver just stared at Leaf in shock while Leaf was rubbing her arm awkwardly while looking the other way.

Wes seemed cheerfully oblivious to all the awkward going on.

"Oh, you're Silver?" he said. "Hi! I'm Wes, Orre's greatest in everything and more! Uh… nice robe."

Silver just frowned at Wes, most likely wondering why this total stranger was talking to him.

Kris cleared her throat to move the conversation along.

"Uh, okay, now that we… got what we wanted, how do we get out?" she asked. "There are cops all over the place. If Looker and the International Police are here, then this whole mission was for nothing."

"I heard some Growlithe barking from downstairs," Wes said hastily as he recalled his Espeon. "They probably sent some K-9 patrols before coming here themselves."

Leaf took the excuse to look away from Silver for a moment.

"If the Growlithe see us, they won't hesitate to use fire!" she deduced. "They'll burn down this whole building, and the patients are still here. How do we get out?"

"Well, the chopper Giovanni used to get here is still here," Kris said. "He did say that the stairs to the elevator collapsed due to the explosion, but I guess Croc can clear the rubble…"

"Then let's go!" Wes said and excitedly led the way.

_**Saffron Hospital, Rooftop**_

Croc had successfully cleared out the rubble, allowing it access to the roof. Kris, Wes, Leaf and Silver followed, loving the feeling of fresh air in their lungs. The group's clothes and hair swayed in the wind, forcing Silver to tighten his robe so he wouldn't start flashing, though he didn't seem embarassed about his outfit, either. The black helicopter was indeed parked on the helipad, though Kris had no idea if any of them were actually qualified to fly a chopper.

Upon reaching the roof, Silver put his hands on Leaf's shoulder and pulled her closer to him, finally ready to say something.

"Why did you come for me?" Silver wondered, lowering his voice so Kris and Wes couldn't hear, though they eavesdropped anyway. "I thought you said we were through. Note: _you _said. Not me."

"Real tactful, Silver," Leaf replied with a hint of a smile. "And I don't care what happened in the past. Let bygones be bygones. I came because I care about you."

Silver smiled at the double-entendre, which made Kris rub her eyes in disbelief. _Silver smiled_? Leaf smiled right back and blushed.

"No, I didn't mean _that_," she stammered nervously. "Damn your smutty mind, Silver!"

Kris sighed. Stupid lovebirds - like there weren't more important matters at hand. It was nice to see them make up their differences so quickly, especially considering how much tension there still was between them, but still… yuck. Sappiness is not for me.

Kris was relieved to have an excuse to focus her attention elsewhere when her Xtransceiver started beeping again. Expecting Fernando to call, she pressed a button on her C-Gear.

"Hello?"

But instead of Fernando, Kris saw the cruelly smiling face of Domino on the screen. She had ditched her previous outfit, preferring her Team Rocket-uniform now, complete with the long white satin gloves and the black sweater with the big red 'R' on it.

"_Hello, Kris_," Domino chirped. "_The boss tells me that you've been quite busy. You're in Saffron City, I hear. You didn't have time to pay your best friend a visit?_"

Kris had no snappy response for her. She looked around in her in panic, prompting Croc, Wes, Leaf and Silver to gather around her. Who were they talking about?

"_Well, good thing we paid him a visit for you_," Domino continued. "_Say hello to Shane, Kris_!"

Domino was apparently holding some kind of camera, which she turned to reveal two Rocket grunts on both sides of a cold metal table. Kris' friend Shane, the small, skinny blonde-haired idiot was strapped to the table, shirtless and with a Pokéball-shaped gag in his mouth. Domino forcefully took out Shane's gag and showed him the black flower she was holding.

"_Say, Shane_," she said. "_How would you like to smell this flower?_"

"_Well, I'm not really into gardening and all_," Shane babbled as if he wasn't being tied to a table by a bunch of sadistic criminals, "_but it sure looks pretty_…"

Domino smiled at the camera before stabbing Shane in the chest with her electrically-charged tulip. Kris watched helplessly at the C-Gear's screen as Shane writhed in pain, no doubt trying to scream out, but Domino had already forced the ballgag back into his mouth. The electrical torture lasted only for three seconds, but that was enough to make Shane's body go limp.

"_Oh dear, he passed out already_?" Domino said sweetly while the Rocket grunts laughed cruelly. Domino turned to the camera again. "_Well, we'll take a short break, but you get the idea. We'll call you again in an hour, Kris. Do as we say and we'll let Shane go. He's of no use to us, after all_, _and I have no real urge to keep him around for too long. He smells like cheese after all. He and his little Sandshrew will be returned unharmed if you bring us yourself, the boss' son and all the research data on that brown-haired chick's C-Gear. That is all. Toodles!_"

Kris' Xtransceiver went dark again. The others looked at her, wondering how she would react. She clenched her fists together, wanting to scream out at this injustice. Of course Giovanni had a backup plan all along. And he robbed her of the opportunity to find Lyra.

And, dumb or not, Shane had to be rescued. At any cost.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Computer problems continue to bother me, so this chapter was delayed a little, though I'll still try to update about twice a week.**_

_**Coming up next: Chapter Nine, 'Rescue Shane!', in which Kris will attempt to... well, you get the idea.  
><strong>_


	9. Rescue Shane!

**Chapter Nine: Rescue Shane!**

_**Location: Rooftop of Central Hospital, Saffron City, Kanto**_

Kris stared blankly at the dark screen of her C-Gear. Just a moment ago, an image of Shane being tortured was clearly visible there. Now, the image haunted Kris, burned her insides like she was the one being captured. Were they torturing him now? How did they manage to capture him? Would he actually live through?

"Damn…" Silver muttered. "There isn't a line that d… that Giovanni isn't ready to cross. Poor bastard."

"Oh no…" Leaf whispered in shock., holding her hands over her mouth.

"Great Giratina's ghost!" Wes exclaimed, before realizing how out of it he was. "Wait, so who was that guy?"

"That was Shane, who I told you about," Kris mumbled, her eyes still on the C-Gear's screen. "He was… he _is_ my friend!"

"_You_ have friends?" Wes wondered. "Well my worldview's been devastated…"

"We…" Kris swallowed, tried to get a grip to avoid bursting into tears due to frustration. "We've got to save him! I don't care where they're keeping him or what kind of security they have set for us! We have to get him out of there! He's not exactly someone who could withstand torture!"

"Pfft!" Wes scoffed. "Sissy!"

Kris ignored him. They were supposed to deliver Leaf's data and themselves to the Underground Pathway. But where exactly could they hold him there? It's just a long tunnel! Unless they would have some secret rooms in there.

Kris' thinking was interrupted by a voice crying out from her Xtransceiver.

"_Kris? Cowboy-dude? Tech-nerd? Anyone? This is Fernando! What happened over there?_"

"We're all right!" Kris yelled into her wrist impatiently. "We're at the rooftop. The building's been completely surrounded, but we can use this helicopter to get out… except that we have more important things to be worried about!"

"_Did you get Silver out_?"

"Wha… yes, but-"

"_Good_!" Fernando yelled. "_Then get out of there! We need to regroup at Palmer's hideout! I'll go on ahead!"_

"No!" Kris protested. "A friend of mine… Shane, an ENO-operative like me and Silver, has been kidnapped by Team Rocket. They're demanding us to give Leaf's data and ourselves or…" Kris paused and grimaced at the thought. "…no 'or'! I don't even want to think about what happens if…"

"_No time for that_!" Fernando argued coldly. "_If you got Silver out and Leaf has agreed to join us, then that's that. Mission completed, wrapped up, case closed, easy money, piece of pie_! _Get outta there_!"

"Never…" Kris said. "We're rescuing Shane, and that's final!"

"_Palmer ain't gonna be happy if something happens_," Fernando reminded. "_Don't expect any backup from me either. I'm outta here. If you somehow manage to survive, then meet me at his place. Don't say I didn't wa-_"

Kris turned her Xtransceiver off. _Stupid device got me in this mess in the first place_… Back when Kris was on her way to Orre, Kris had used one of those things to contact Shane. If only she had just left Shane alone… maybe this could have been avoided…

Kris looked at Leaf, who felt conflicted about the issue.

"I don't suppose you could…?" Kris tried her luck, but knew that Leaf had other things to do.

Leaf shook her head. "I'm sorry, Kris," she said sadly. "I really am. I want to get Shane out of there, but… I need to get Silver to safety. I can't allow you to deliver him to them!"

"Yeah, _that's_ what I was planning, sure," Kris said sarcastically. "You think I risked my arse to save your boyfriend just so I could give him to that Corleone-wannabe and his flunkies? I understand what you need to do. Get Silver out of here!"

"Yeah, I would like to come too," Silver groaned and rubbed his badly scarred face, "but doctor's orders, you know. Kill a few Rockets for me, willya, Kris?"

Kris then turned to Wes. She wasn't expecting him to come, either. The hospital infiltration was hard enough, and this wasn't even authorized by Palmer. Wes wouldn't even get a paycheck for this operation.

But to Kris' surprise, Wes just smirked casually. "You can count me in, Krissy," he said while grabbing his revolver from its holster and twirling it with his fingers. "After all, who else would drag your dead body back for a proper funeral? Don't worry, I'll make sure to come up with a swanky epitaph."

"Thanks, Wes," Kris smiled.

Kris had to push the idea meeting Lyra out of her mind. She would come back and find her, but right now, she needed to move. She walked to the edge of the roof and looked down - more and more police officers were circling the hospital, some of them holding Growlithe and even a few Arcanine on a leash. Looking at the barking of the bloodthirsty Arcanine, all Kris could think of was how much she didn't want to end up as their chew toy. There were also people wearing rather conspicuous trench coats.

_International Police… our heroic boys in blue… protecting people and Pokémon as long as they pay… solving the mysteries by silencing anyone who disagrees with the official Committee dogma._

"You better go," Kris told Leaf. "Me and Wes will take the Pidgeot and scope out the Underground…"

Leaf nodded, appreciating Kris' understanding. She climbed to the helicopter and prepared it for takeoff. Silver followed behind her, but right before he entered the chopper, he turned to look at Kris.

"Before you go," Silver said, somewhat reluctantly, "you should know something. Don't go into the Underground Pathway. It's… a trap."

"Obviously," Kris said and resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "But I've deal with those before."

"No, I mean that… Shane won't be there," Silver said, his voice tense and awkward, as if he felt guilty about something. "Since they were able to call you on the Xtra… thingy, it means that their skybase is near by. Probably above Saffron."

"Their what?" Wes asked.

"Giovanni… well, Team Plasma has a mobile hideout in the sky," Silver explained to Kris and Wes, who looked skeptical. "I… when I considered joining his organization, he was already making some sort of deal with Team Plasma. I visited the skybase when it was still above Unova. It's the perfect place for him to hide in, outside the Committee's jurisdiction. If I know my f… _him_, he will be keeping your friend there. He's probably got a bunch of people waiting in ambush in the Underground, ready to take you to the skybase when you bring your unsuspecting ass in."

"Hey, my ass always suspects the worst," Kris said. "But… thanks."

"That's not the important part," Silver said quickly, ignoring Kris' expression of gratitude. "I didn't see it well, but… they have some pretty freaky Pokémon in guard there. And they'll be throwing everything they've got at you if you break in."

"So what?" Wes announced confidently and started twirling his revolver around again - Kris figured that it would have to be a toy gun, since even Wes wasn't stupid enough to disregard gun safety like that. "It's Team Rocket! Their Pokémon will go down when you just give them a dirty look. They're cowards! They fight with numbers, not with skill!"

"Maybe you're right," Silver said calmly, irritated by Wes' bravado, "but my… _Giovanni_ is working with Team Plasma. They have a totally different style, a completely different modus… uh, modus…"

"Operandi," Leaf said helpfully when Silver looked at her for advice.

"Yeah, that," Silver said. "Be careful!"

"We would be if we were cowards," Wes said. "But we aren't, right Kris?"

"I'd rather be a coward than a corpse," Kris said dryly. "All right, Silver, I get it, skybase above Saffron. Thanks for the heads up. Now go!"

Silver still looked unsure, but closed the helicopter door as he got on the seat next to Leaf. Kris and Wes got down on the ground and watched as the rotors started spinning more and more rapidly before the chopper took off and flew away from the hospital, hopefully distracting the police down below.

Kris then nodded to Wes, who opened one of the Poké Balls on his belt. Wes' Pidgeot popped out, and Wes got on its back just as confidently as ever. Kris hopped on the Pidgeot too, sitting next to Wes and holding tight. She didn't mind flying on Pidgeot's back anymore, but Silver's warning about the skybase echoed in her mind.

_It's just Team Rocket and Team Plasma_, she thought to calm herself down. _Run-of-the-mill criminals, a joke when you think about it. No match for highly trained psychos like me and Wes… I hope_.

Wes gave the signal, and Pidgeot spread its wings and started its ascent.

"Go up as high as you can!" Kris yelled into Wes' ear. "If we're talking about some huge structure on the sky, I think we can recognize it when we see it."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Sky above Saffron City**  
><em>

_Don't look down… don't look down… don't look down… ah, screw it!_

Kris had never been as high as she was now. As the Pidgeot flew above Saffron City, the whole Kanto region opened up to her. It was beautiful and scary at the same time, seeing Saffron City as a humongous gray grid-shaped blotch of buildings, from tall skyscrapers to apartment buildings. Despite the altitude, the neighboring cities were just similarly featureless blobs of gray in the distance.

Around Saffron City were thick patches of green. Despite the time of the year, the forests around the cities were still lush and green. Carefully looking behind her, Kris saw the sea in the horizon.

Countless bird Pokémon flew past them, mostly bigger ones like Fearow and Pidgeotto, as the smaller bird Pokémon preferred lower altitudes.

Then, Kris looked up. The sky wasn't blue, but dull, gray and lifeless, barely visible amidst all the clouds. Mixed with the clouds, the sky created a gray dome over the Earth, sealing the people below in its gray atmosphere.

_Ooh, I must write that down when I get back_.…

Pidgeot soared around in circles, but slowly, so the wind wasn't an issue. If the Pidgeot wouldn't get tired, it would be a perfect place to relax, free from all the traffic and stupid people down below.

"No sign of that skybase!" Wes yelled, breaking Kris' moment of tranquility. "Think Silver was just pulling our collective leg?"

Kris didn't reply. She looked up, trying to see what was directly above her, almost breaking her neck in the process.

_Odd to see a cloud at this altitude_…

"Wes!" Kris yelled. "Look up!"

Wes and Kris looked together. A suspicious gray cloud was hovering directly above them, completely motionless. Wes tapped the back of the Pidgeot's head and pointed at the cloud. Pidgeot seemed to understand and started to soar higher.

Finally, when the Pidgeot brought Kris and Wes close enough to the cloud, they could only open their mouths in amazement:

Concealed by the artificial cloud was a huge structure. _Like a castle in the sky_, Kris thought, _kinda like in that movie, though the name of it escapes me_. Built out gray bricks, the castle, or more like a cathedral, was just somehow floating in the air. On both sides of the imposing gateway, there were two banners: one with a Team Plasma logo, and one with the Team Rocket logo.

The Pidgeot landed in front of the entrance. No surveillance cameras, from what Kris could see, and there was just a small, automatic door as an entrance, though Kris was certain that there were dozens of emergency exits and escape hatches in the base.

"Shall we?" Wes asked as he recalled Pidgeot.

Kris nodded nervously, but didn't reply as the two entered this strange castle.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Team Plasma Skybase, high above Saffron City**  
><em>

The automatic door shut down behind them, hauntingly echoing in the quiet chamber they had entered in. Though there was a long red carpet leading to the end of the room, the place didn't look like a castle at all. The whole chamber bathed in odd, blue-hued light, and it was filled with odd machinery. At the end of the chamber, there was another automatic door. Above the door was a TV monitor of some sort. Kris and Wes glanced each other and grabbed Poké Balls from their waists.

"Croc, go!"

"Espeon, go!"

Kris had to rely on her only Pokémon, the fearsome Feraligatr that instantly growled threateningly and drooled all over the floor when released. Wes chose his Espeon, the lavender feline with a red gem on its forehead.

As Kris, Wes and their Pokémon approached the other end of the room, the monitor above the door was suddenly turned on.

But it wasn't Giovanni or Domino who filled the screen: it was N. He didn't seem much older than Kris or Wes, and while he wasn't very built, he was much taller and more powerful-looking than either of them. N was well-groomed and had long tea green hair and grayish blue eyes, and the moment he appeared on the screen, he started talking. Androgynous pretty boy or not, N spoke quickly, confidently and with a passion:

"_So you're the ones Gio warned me about_," N said, his voice blaring from everywhere. "_You have invaded our home. You seem like good people, so I must ask you to leave. I don't want you to hurt any more of my friends!_"

"What are you talking about, bisshie-boy?" Wes growled at the screen. "We came here to rescue a guy from getting charred!"

"Don't bother," Kris muttered to Wes. "He can probably see us, but I doubt he can hear us. I don't think he's even here, physically."

But Kris still kept her eyes glued on the screen, staring back at N. Why was he working with Team Rocket? Based on what Kris had heard from Ghetsis and others, N and Giovanni should get along about as well as a hung over Seviper and a PMS'ing Zangoose. Was N even aware that there was torturing going around in his base? If Shane was even there…

"Well, only one way to find out," Kris said.

The automatic door hissed and opened, revealing Kris, Wes and their Pokémon a long, straightforward corridor decorated with pastel-colored paintings of happy Pokémon and another red carpet. There were also several monitors and the surveillance cameras near the ceiling.

"_I warned you_," echoed N's voice. "_If you don't step out now, I will be forced to use my friends against you_!"

Kris, Wes, Croc and Espeon ignored this and ran to the end of the corridor, stepping through another automatic door.

This time they appeared in a chamber filled with more strange machines. There was a spiraling staircase in the room, leading them to the upper floors, but the chamber was also full of automatic doors.

"_I'm sorry it had to come to this_," N announced, his face once again disturbingly showing up on all the monitors around the room.

Automatic doors opened on every side of the room, Team Plasma grunts coming from the left, from the right and from the front. They were accompanied by two Herdier and a Stoutland, along with three Watchog, yellow-striped meerkat-like Pokémon with crazy eyes.

Kris and Wes wasted no time. Quickly assuming defensive positions, they ordered their Pokémon to attack.

"Croc, Slash!"

"Espeon, Psychic!"

Croc quickly dispatched one Herdier with its claws while Espeon blasted two Watchog away, knocking them on one Plasma Grunt. But as the Pokémon battled, two Plasma Grunts approached Kris, trying to take her out bare-handed.

Unfortunately for them, Kris was quicker. She quickly pointed at them with her Pokétch, launching an Ice Beam. Before they could jump on Kris, the Plasma Grunts became coated in ice, completely immobile.

Wes wrestled with one Plasma Grunt, taking hits as he was pinned on the floor. Kris fired another Ice Beam, hitting the Plasma Grunt's head and freezing it as well.

"_Where's your honor_?" N taunted from the screens. "_You break into our sacred castle and brutally assault my friends! How low will you Committee henchmen stoop?_"

"Thanks, Kris!" Wes shouted as he pushed the Plasma Grunt off him. "Look out!"

Kris quickly turned - the Stoutland charged towards her, but Wes reacted swiftly.

"Espeon, Reflect!" he yelled as he pointed at Kris.

Espeon jumped between Kris and the Stoutland, creating an invisible wall which Stoutland crashed into. Kris nodded at her Feraligatr, and Croc was quick to understand, blasting the Stoutland into a wall with Hydro Pump.

Finally, Espeon used Psychic to pick up the last Watchog, throwing it on Plasma Grunts attempting to flee, knocking them out. This allowed Kris and Wes to continue moving forward.

"_Activate defenses_!" N yelled to someone

The automatic doors that the Plasmas used to get in were locked, but Kris and Wes ignored them and ran to the spiraling stairs. Espeon was quick to follow, while Croc lumbered behind them, unable to climb fast due to its weight.

Once Kris and Wes had made it to the top of the stairs, they were face with another corridor. This one, however, was not as narrow as the last one, and there were more many automatic doors on both sides of the corridor.

"We sure could use a map," Wes said.

"Nah, I have a hunch that Shane is at the end of the corridor!" Kris said.

"A hunch? Seriously?"

"Look, I don't know where he is," Kris snapped, nervously looking around her, expecting another ambush, "but we have no time to search this entire place! He's being tortured, for crying out loud!"

"All right. Lead the way," Wes muttered.

Kris and Wes started running towards the end of the corridor with Croc and Espeon in tow. Quickly, they heard another voice from the intercom, but this time it wasn't N. It was a monotonous, unpleasantly tinny voice, most likely coming from the skybase's computers.

"_**Threat level: Yellow alert. Number of targets: Four. Preparing to expunge targets**_."

"What now?" Wes asked, but still kept running right behind Kris.

"_I really wish it didn't have to come to this,_" N's voice warned from the speakers, "_but we cannot let you sabotage our home_!"

An automatic door directly let from Wes opened, and a strange Pokémon stepped out. This seemed to be the one Silver had warned about: a purple, insect-like, bipedal Pokémon apparently made out of steel. The Pokémon had a UFO-shaped head with two red, pupil-less eyes. It had some kind of ventilation shaft where its mouth should be. Fused on its back was a cannon almost as big as itself, but it carried it easily.

"_Genesect, Techno Blast_!" N ordered.

The strange insect Pokémon, Genesect fired an orange beam of light from its cannon straight towards Wes, who had no time to dodge. His Espeon jumped in front of the blast, being instantly knocked out as the orange beam hit its body.

"Divine Dialga!" Wes exclaimed as he saw Espeon go limp. He quickly recalled the Pokémon and prepared to send in another one.

Croc rushed towards Genesect, trying to wrestle it to the ground, but despite the Feraligatr's humongous size and strength, Genesect could easily keep it away. Genesect pushed Croc away as its claws started glowing. It slashed an 'X' into the air, then launched the X towards Croc, knocking it out as well.

"It's no use!" Kris shouted as she returned Croc with one hand and tried to pull Wes away from the Genesect with the other. "I've never seen anything like that before!"

"It has to have some weakness!" Wes growled. "Umbreon, go!"

Wes ignored the fact that his Umbreon was still weak after the battle in the hospital, but it still managed to stay on its feet.

"Let's try something else… Umbreon, Confuse Ray!" Wes ordered.

But Wes couldn't even finish his sentence as Genesect leaped away from Umbreon's attack and tried to stab Wes with its claws. Wes ducked on the ground, avoiding the attack, while Umbreon lunged towards Genesect, only to be slashed with the Genesect's claw and easily knocked out.

Noticing Wes' distress, Kris fired another Ice Beam from her Pokétch, but the attack harmlessly ricocheted off the Genesect's body.

_Damn it, of course! It's a steel-type!_

"Wes, use Ninetales!" Kris yelled.

After being hit by Kris' attack, Genesect ignored Wes and attacked her instead. Kris ducked out of the Genesect's way, its claw hitting the wall instead. Wes quickly summoned the golden-white fox from its Poké Ball without questioning Kris.

"Flamethrower!" Wes yelled the moment Ninetales had materialized and before it even realized what was going on.

Ninetales' eyes glowed white as it released a powerful, red-orange stream of fire towards the Genesect. Kris quickly rolled out of the attack's way, almost singing herself - the flamethrower had grazed the sleeve of her shirt.

Being hit by the Flamethrower, Genesect seemed to finally react - the metal exoskeleton started to peel off, slightly melting, and Genesect's legs seemed to give away. Its cannon started glowing orange again, but Ninetales quickly launched another Flamethrower, this time knocking the Genesect out.

"Yeah!"

Wes cheered and patted his Ninetales' head while Kris sighed in relief.

"See, Kris?" he said. "They weren't so-"

"_**Sterilizing skybase. Releasing more purification units to corridor B4.**_"

"Meaning what?" Kris wondered.

But the answer she got wasn't a pleasant one: two more automatic doors opened behind Kris and Wes, and two more Genesect walked out of their chambers. The light on the other one's cannon was red, while the other's cannon glowed yellow.

"_You didn't expect that to be our only one, did you_?" N laughed. "_I don't particularly like this, but… it's for the greater good. Attack!_"

"Run!" Kris screamed.

But she couldn't go anywhere, as Wes grabbed her by her sleeve and pulled her back, trying to grin reassuringly.

"Relax, Krissy," he said. "They're weak to fire, piece of cake. Ninetales, Flamethrower again!"

Ninetales fired another stream of fire at the two Genesect, but they were faster and quickly dodged the attack.

"One more time, Ninetales!" Wes said.

But this time Ninetales didn't start charging the attack. It was breathing heavily, its eyes didn't glow white anymore and only smoke poured out of its mouth.

"Ninetales, what's the matter with you?" Wes panicked. "Fire! Do something!"

"When was the last time you healed your mons?" Kris asked, but didn't expect an answer as the cannons of the two Genesect started pulsating and glowing. "Get down!" she screamed.

Kris dragged Wes down on the ground with her, but Ninetales wasn't fast enough: both Genesect fired another Techno Blast towards it, sending it flying several yards backwards.

Before the Genesect could fire again, Kris and Wes got up and Wes recalled Ninetales. Certain that their objective would be at the end of the corridor, Kris started running towards it, and Wes quickly followed.

The two Genesect followed them, and despite their bulk and the cannons on their backs, they moved with incredible agility, running at the exact same speed, fully in rhythm with each other.

"_Surrender instantly and leave this base, and you will be unharmed_!" N yelled.

Kris was only a few feet away from the door, and it wasn't an automatic one - it had doorknob on it. Ignoring the monitor above the door which displayed N's smiling face, Kris threw herself against the door… but only injured her shoulder in the process and collapsed on the floor. Wes attempted the same, but only crashed into Kris. The door wouldn't budge.

"_**Threat isolated. All corridors leading to the Holding Cells have been blocked. Preparing to evaporate targets**_."

"Evawhatnow?" Wes squealed.

Kris clawed on the door, desperately trying to turn the doorknob, but the door wouldn't open.

"_I'm sorry_," N said. "_But we cannot allow intruders on our premises. Please get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head. We thank you for your co-operation_."

The two Genesect caught up to Kris and Wes, stopping as they were only five feet away. They aimed the cannons on their backs directly at Kris and Wes, awaiting their orders. Wes closed his eyes and cringed while Kris turned her head away. There was nowhere to go…

"_Genesect_," N ordered. "_U…re… ruders…ex… nate… tely!_"

Kris and Wes turned to look at the monitor. It was going all staticy, with N's face appearing and reappearing on the screen, only with the colors all wonky and the image distorted. The Genesect paused as well, awaiting further orders.

"…_happened_?" echoed N's staticy and disjointed voice from the intercom, having turned from confident and condescending to panicked and anxious. "_…system… out… mittee… it!_"

Then, without warning, the door Kris and Wes were leaning on opened. Kris and Wes quickly crawled through, but the Genesect couldn't follow, as the door slammed shut the moment Kris and Wes reached other room.

In confusion, Kris and Wes looked to see where they were. Kris immediately recognized the dimly lit, cold room from the call Domino made, but there were no Plasma Grunts or Rocket Grunts around. This room was also filled with automatic doors as well as TV screens hanging on the walls, though they all just displayed white noise. The two Genesect were still clawing on the door Kris and Wes came through, but the door wouldn't give in.

"W-what in the name of Satoshi Tajiri just happened in there?" Wes stuttered, still clutching his chest and panting.

"Sounds like the computer system that controls this place just went kaput," Kris guessed. "Maybe they should stop visiting all those shady Gardevoir sites so they wouldn't get any viruses…"

"You think it was a virus?" Wes asked.

"Well, to be honest… I have no idea," Kris said, shaking her head. "Would be an odd coincidence, though. Maybe Leaf or Fernando or maybe Palmer decided to help us after all and hacked into the system or something… I dunno.

Whatever happened inside the skybase certainly messed up Team Plasma's and Team Rocket's plans. All the doors leading to the room Kris and Wes were in had been blocked. The duo could hear banging from the other side of the doors, most likely Grunts trying to break their way through.

Of course, whether the group could get out or not remained a problem to be solved.

"Uh, hey, Kris," Wes said suddenly, noticing something in the corner of the room as he tapped Kris on the shoulder.

"What?"

Wes pointed at the metal table in the corner of the room, causing Kris to gasp. She saw someone, a young man, laying on the table, his hands and feet tied to it. The man was short, skinny and didn't have a shirt one, exposing his scrawny, hairless chest and rather babyish skin. Hard to believe he was twenty. The man had blonde, messy hair, and Kris recognized him immediately.

"…Shane?" she whimpered, approaching the man. He did not move.

"Oh, crap," Wes muttered, grimacing at the sight of Shane.

As Kris approached Shane, Wes kept his distance, but they could both see burn marks all over his body. His eyes were closed, and he still wasn't moving - he didn't even seem to be breathing, as his chest wasn't heaving. He was just there, motionless.

"Oh no…" Kris whispered. "No, no, no, please… you can't be… Shane… I'm so sorry… if we had come here sooner… no…"

Wes just stood in the corner, hands in his pocket and looking away from Kris, most likely praying to himself that Kris wouldn't begin to cry. He just couldn't handle crying women.

But Kris seemed too horrified to cry as she approached Shane.

"I never even got to tell him," Kris whispered. "Tell him that I considered him a friend… he must have hated me after all I'd done… and now this! Damn it!"

Kris closed her eyes and slammed her fist on the metal table Shane was on.

Suddenly, almost giving Kris a heart attack, Shane opened his eyes, blinked for a while, looked around in confusion and yawned. Kris opened her eyes and could only stare at Shane wide-eyed, unable to express her relief.

"Oh, hello, Kris," Shane mumbled, sounding rather cheerful for someone who had been tied to a table and tortured. "I was just taking a nap. About time you got here. I mean, it's a cool place and all, but the people in here are into some serious bondage stuff. Not my style, really. I'm a more of a cuddler… though people seem to find my cuddling attempts spooky, with the way they recoil away from me… especially on the train. Are we ready to go? Did you bring Shrew here? Did you-"

To stop Shane's rambling, Kris slapped him on the cheek. _We all react to traumatic situations differently, I guess_, Kris thought.

"…thanks," Shane mumbled.

"What happened to you?" Kris asked.

Wes approached the metal table Shane was on. Shane ignored Kris' question and focused his attention to Wes.

"Uh… hi," Shane said. "Don't think I've seen you before. Nice coat. Was it on sale?"

"_This _is the guy we came here to rescue?" Wes asked Kris in confusion before shaking his head and turning to Shane. "Well, hi, I guess. Name's Wes. Best trainer in Orre and beyond… according to my own theories, anyway. Pleasure meeting ya."

"Yeah, same here, if it wasn't all the torturizing and stuff," Shane said, smiling boyishly before turning to Kris. "Now, I appreciate the thought, Kris, and he's good-looking and all that, but you didn't have to bring me a stripper. Just getting out of here will be a good start. Untie me, willya?"

"Good-looking?" Wes repeated smugly. "Well, I don't know about… hey, wait a minute! What was that you said?"

Kris looked between Wes and Shane for a moment. Looking (and listening) to the two of them, you'd think Wes was Shane's big brother or something. This resemblance confused Kris, but she nonetheless untied Shane and helped him get off the table. The moment Shane's legs touched the ground, they failed under him and he staggered a bit, unable to stand - Domino had taken his shoes and socks off during the torture as well.

"How'd you manage to survive that?" Wes wondered, looking at Shane from head to toe. "I've seen that Domino chick use her flower and… well, no offense, kid, but you look like the sorta person who could be a killed by a slight breeze or somethin'."

"Uh… thanks?" Shane said obliviously. "It was kinda…" Shane winced as he apparently attempted to reminisce what happened. "Kinda unpleasant. Not just the electric shocks… they put a Bidoof down my pants and let me squirm for a minute, though that felt like a year to me. And they touched some… inappropriate places."

"Oh, uh, sorry to hear that," Wes said awkwardly.

"Thanks, it was kinda terrible," Shane said and shuddered. "My toes will never feel the same again."

"…what?"

"Back to my question," Kris said, interrupting this half-assed banter. "What happened, exactly?"

"Hell if I know," Shane said casually and shrugged. "Me and Shrew were leaving work as usual. I couldn't help but to think about your warning about me being tracked, so I took a little detour by the ghettos and red light districts just so they couldn't spot me. And then that Domino chick came up to me and asked if I wanted company. Well, I was looking for someone to play poker with, since Shrew cheats a lot, so me and Shrew naturally followed her to this dark alley. Next thing I know, there was a terrible pain in my head and I woke up here. I'd like to know where my clothes are, though."

"How was it, though?" Wes asked, prompting Kris to give him a dirty look, causing Wes to stutter apologetically. "Not the torture, I mean," he corrected, "but getting manhandled by that Domino chick is not something you get to experience every day. I mean, she's got real nice…" Wes stopped when he noticed that Kris was still glaring at him with her eyebrows raised. "…knees?"

"Well, I guess would have appreciated it, would I have been conscious," Shane lamented. "And, you know, not being electrocuted," he finished, wincing as he rubbed the burn marks all over his body. "But hey, I guess these burns and scars will make me look more manly, huh?"

"Unless they're made out of pure testosterone, no," Kris deadpanned - the familiar feeling of Shane getting on her nerves was starting to kick in. "Where's Shrew?"

"Hm? Oh, right, it's over there. They… forced it to watch."

Shane pointed at a little pet carrier in the opposite corner. Forcing Wes to support Shane, Kris ran to the carrier and opened the door. Shivering inside the carrier was a small but chubby Sandshrew that had curled itself into a ball again. Gently, Kris pulled the little Pokémon out of the carrier, and slowly, Shrew stopped shivering, uncurled itself and opened its eyes.

Seeing the familiar face of Kris, Shrew squealed in delight and started to cheerfully repeat its own name.

"Nice to see you too, buddy," Kris smiled, then lowered the Sandshrew on the floor. "Go on, Shane's waiting."

Shrew immediately ran to Shane, jumped on his lap and hugged him, accidentally scratching him all over with its sharp claws, though Shane didn't seem to mind.

"Hi there!" Shane said. "Didcha miss me? Come on, gimme a kiss!"

"Eugh, save that grotesqueness for later," Kris said. "We gotta get out of here!"

Kris looked around her, constantly listening carefully and trying to see if there was an escape hatch somewhere. All the doors around her were locked, and there were probably grunts at every door, trying to break through them. Worried, Kris walked up to Shane and looked at his wounds.

"Can you walk, Shane?" she asked. The genuine concern in Kris' voice made Wes grumble and cross his arms.

"Are you kidding!" Shane yelled obnoxiously, not sounding very injured. "I can barely even stand!"

"Well, what do you expect us to do?" Kris wondered. "Carry you?"

"Hey, you're the brains of the outfit!" Shane protested. "You come up with the plan. I'm just a pretty face. Speaking of which, did you get a look at that N guy? I saw him on one of the screens earlier. Nice!"

Kris let out an annoyed groan, then turned to Wes. He seemed to be pouting over something, but Kris had no time to figure out what it was. "Any ideas?" Kris asked him.

"Just one," Wes said.

And, without warning, Wes punched Shane in the face, knocking him out cold. Shrew didn't seem to mind, just watched in confusion as its master fell on the floor.

"_Wes_!" Kris scolded, though didn't sound very convincing.

Wes just shrugged. "He would have just slowed us down. We came here to get him out, correct? Which will be hard if he blabbers so much that the enemy can find us."

"But now I have to carry him!" Kris whined. "Well, at least he's not heavy. Help me out with this guy, willya?"

Kris crouched, while Wes and Shrew easily lifted Shane on Kris' back. Kris was forced to give Shane a piggyback ride, fully knowing that their chances of escape with one of those Genesect on their tail was close to zero. _I can't believe I talked myself into this thing…_

"_**W-w-warning**_," echoed the intercom voice, though sounding disjointed, its pitch raising and lowering due to the corruption of the system. "_**SysTEM shut-d-d-down… fweeeee… crash IM-mi-nent. Kaboom! All HAnds prepare forrrr… landing. EvaCUate imMEdiATEly… kshhh…**_"

"We better go!" Wes yelled, keeping his fingers ready on Zebstrika's Poké Ball.

"Yeah, but…" Kris groaned as she held Shane on her back - even if he wasn't heavy, Kris wasn't very strong herself. "How? How do we get out here?"

But her question was suddenly answered when her unknown benefactor opened a door on the other side of the room. No Plasma Grunts, Rocket Grunts or Genesect were waiting in ambush behind the door - there was only another long corridor, with daylight visible at the end of it. Regardless of if it was a glitch in the system or some unknown hacker, Kris felt immense relief. _That better be the exit, though…_

"I hope the Pidgeot can carry us all," Wes said as he took the lead, running into the tunnel with Shrew following him and Kris going last, forced to carry the unconscious Shane on her back.

Even under the circumstances, though… it was good to have him back.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Not as long this time, and it felt a bit rushed to me, but there were scenes that I liked, and I hope you do, too. **_

_**I updated the first chapter, tweaking it a bit and also adding a "cast of characters" list there so the readers can see what characters will appear in this story. I also noticed that someone has copypasted the first three chaps of this story on Writing. com. Annoying, but kinda flattering, too.**_

_**Coming up next: Chapter Ten - 'The Enthusiast', where Kris, Wes and the latest addition to the group, Shane, will go and pick up the final member needed for the team. This guy is particularly obsessed about legendary Pokémon, especially Suicune...**_


	10. The Enthusiast

**Chapter Ten: The Enthusiast**

_**Location: Mahogany Town, Johto**_  
><em><strong>December 7th, 2099, 7 AM<strong>_

After an almost endless flight, Wes' Pidgeot, carrying Wes, Kris and Shane on its back, finally landed in front of Palmer's hideout in Mahogany Town. The streets were still empty at this hour, though the lazy townspeople probably didn't wake up until at noon and even then they preferred to stay inside and grumble about 'foreigners and out-of-towners'.

As soon as Pidgeot landed and the trio hopped off its back, the mighty bird collapsed on the ground, its eyes closed and its wings limp. Understandably enough, too, having carried the trio all the way from Kanto.

Wes recalled Pidgeot. Shane shivered a bit, as even though Kris had given him her jacket, he was still freezing due to his lack of shoes. He hoped Palmer had some second-hand clothes in store when he would get there. Shane casually took a few steps towards Palmer's hideout, alerting Kris.

"Hey, wait a minute, I thought you couldn't use your legs!" she said.

"Oh, yeah, I, uh…" Shane looked at his feet for a moment and tried to come up with something convincing. "Uh… IT'S A MIRACLE!"

Kris sighed, while Wes cracked his knuckles like he was about to hit Shane again, though he also didn't want to give a bad impression to Kris, who started fiddling with her C-Gear.

"Browsing some news sites," she explained. "Planet PokéWatch should have something about… ah, here we go! _'A cathedral-sized building inexplicably collapsed in the middle of the forest slightly northwest from Saffron City'_… whew, that's a relief! _'Unfortunately, a part of the rail bridge was destroyed, so the Magnet Train is out of commission for at least two weeks.'_…whoops. Oh well, can't break an egg without making a few omelettes first… or something."

"Does it say anything about any Team Plasma or Team Rocket dudes or dudettes?" Wes asked.

"Hmm… nah," Kris said, sighed and turned the C-Gear back to standby mode so it only displayed the time. "Though I really hope that none of them made it out and that Domino died an agonizing death in flames… well, one can only wish."

Kris saw Wes frowning and gazing Shane suspiciously, but decided to ignore this. Together, the trio, with Shrew sitting on Shane's shoulders, stepped inside Palmer's place.

The hideout was looking much better than before. As Kris, Wes and Shane stepped into the basement, they saw Fernando dusting the place, wearing a pink apron for some reason. Palmer was sitting behind his desk, once again looking at some files, while Leaf and Silver sat next to each other at the other side of the desk. Kris noticed that although they weren't talking, they were holding hands. Leaf quickly let go of Silver when she noticed the others entering the room and scratched her nose instead.

"Kris!" Leaf exclaimed. "Thank Arceus you're okay! And Shane! Good to see you!"

Palmer raised his head to look at the trio as they entered. He circled around his desk and walked up to Shane to shake his hand. Next to Shane, Palmer looked like a giant, and Shane was visibly intimidated by him, though he still responded to the handshake.

"Good to have another Operative here," Palmer said, though it sounded forced and he didn't smile as he said it. "I have to be honest with you: recruiting you wasn't exactly in the, well… plan, so to speak, but we're happy to have everyone we can."

"Thanks, I guess," Shane mumbled. "Uh… who's '_we_'?"

"Didn't you tell him along the way?" Palmer asked Kris.

"I did, but he has a really short attention span," Kris responded and quickly changed the subject: "So, not part of the 'plan', eh? According to Fernando here, we shouldn't have gone there in the first place. Apparently it would have been _better_if we'd just left Shane here to be tortured by those sick freaks! What is going on here?"

Palmer looked at Kris straight in the eyes for a moment. Then, unflinchingly, he walked back behind his desk and sat down. Kris, Wes and Shane followed him so Palmer could hand Kris a piece of paper.

"Your last teammate," Palmer explained. "Once you've gone to meet him, I'll explain everything. I promise."

Kris tried to fight back the urge to do a sarcastic eye roll. _For now, it looks like I have to deal with him_. Kris looked at the paper Palmer gave her.

"Eusine?" she asked as she read the file.

"Correct," Palmer said. "Eusine is an expert on legendary Pokémon. He studied them in some library in Holon, had a special class about them at the Ranger School in Almia and has been meditating with the monks of the Wise Trio. His C-Gear is full of data on legendaries, and I think he knows how the plates of origin actually work. No need to go to the edge of the world for this one - he's very close by, at the Lake of Rage, north from here."

Shane, who had gone somewhere during Palmer's speech, suddenly appeared back into the room, having procured a pair of shoes as well as a used sweater that he had inside out, though Shane seemed to be oblivious about it.

Silver, who hadn't said a word during the briefing, grunted in his chair and held his ribs. He was wearing his usual outfit now: he was wearing a black shirt with red stripes on it, along with black gloves. For some reason, he wore his gloves constantly, even indoors. Leaf looked at him, still probably concerned about his condition.

"What did they do to you?" Leaf asked as Silver tried to put on a casually stoic face.

"I'll… tell you later," Silver muttered in response. He then looked at Palmer from under his brows, with visible contempt, just like Wes had done. "Now, boss-man, I don't think I'm ready just yet… better send someone else to meet this Eugene."

"Eusine," Palmer corrected. "I'm not sure about the pronunciation myself, though. In any case, he's a Pokémon bounty hunter nowadays."

"I've been meaning to ask," Kris said as she turned to Wes. "What in the name of the Distortion World is a 'Pokémon bounty hunter'? Enlighten me."

"Well, it's rather simple," Wes said as he folded his arms and leaned to the wall behind him casually. "We _hunt_ things. For a _bounty_, which is usually money, in my case. That's where _bounty hunter_comes from. Want me to explain again?"

Shane laughed uncomfortably loudly, prompting everyone to look at him as he slapped Kris on the shoulder. "Hah! He beat you in your game, Kris! Burn!"

"All right," Palmer said calmly as she saw Kris opening her mouth in protest. Palmer then raised his hand to prevent more bickering. "_Anyway_, yes, there are two schools of thought. One is a man who captures humans, usually criminals, using Pokémon, like Wes here. The others, like this Eusine, capture Pokémon, but not in the way trainers do it, but usually with electrified nets or something. You see, when a trainer uses a Poké Ball on a Pokémon, they become 'marked'. You need to release them or trade them if you want to give them away. Of course, if you want to give a Pokémon to someone, you could just release them, but many people believe that Poké Balls act as 'power restraints', and that a Pokémon caught with a Poké Ball is weakened somehow and won't become stronger until its trained. There might be some truth to it…"

"Of course!" Leaf said as she gasped dramatically, then started to passionately ramble on: "After all, the Poké Ball was invented by that bastard Professor Kaminko, who is known to be racist towards all Pokémon. And who perfected the design and mass-produced them? Silph Co.! A corporation owned by the Committee, who also have similar '_humans ftw!_'-sentiments. Damn those elitist assholes!"

Silver responded to Leaf's outburst pretty calmly: "I love it when you're all passionate and foul-mouthed. It's hot…"

"Shut up, Silver!" Leaf retorted, but smiled a bit as she said it. "I'm just saying-"

"You're right, Dr. Greene," Palmer said 'politely', though it sounded condescending to the others. "That's why I want the Committee stopped. But we'll talk about this later. Silver cannot go, so you're to stay here with him, right?" Palmer asked Leaf.

"Of course!" Leaf said perkily. "Uh… not that I want to, but he might still be hurt, so I thought I… well, you know, I'm not a medical doctor or anything, but I do know something about… err, where was I again?"

"_And I have to continue cooking!_" Fernando yelled from the kitchen. "_Today we're having brain-pies and Ekans ears_!"

"So it'll just be me and Krissy again," Wes said. "Wouldn't want it any other way!"

"And Shane!" Kris reminded, before turning to Shane. "That is… if you want to go. Here's a hint: the right answer is 'yes'!"

"Meh, sure I'll go, got nothing else to do," Shane said and shrugged - the sweater was too large for Shane, so the sleeves were hanging much lower than his hands. "I am a bit hungry, though," Shane added and rubbed his stomach. "All those torturisms left me a bit… esurient."

"How did you know a word like that?" Kris wondered.

But Shane didn't get to answer the question. A round, pink Pokémon that was only three feet tall, waddled towards him. It was a Chansey, smiling as it was about to given an egg to Shane. But Shane reacted predictably, shrieking like a little girl and grabbing onto Wes, who was the standing the closest.

"AAAHH!" Shane screamed. "IT'S A DEMON! IT… oh, it's a Chansey…"

Wes pushed Shane away from him and dusted himself off while Shane reacted with confusion to the egg the Chansey was offering. At first, he just stared at it, then finally took it and put it in his mouth. His suspicion quickly went away as he chewed on it, suddenly looking relaxed and content.

"Man… this tastes great…" he mumbled, his mouth full of the egg. "I'm not hungry anymore! Thankies, Chansey!"

"_Oh yeah, this Chansey followed me all the way here from the hospital_!" Fernando explained from the kitchen, barely audible over the sound of cooking. "_One of those Rocket Grunts managed to wound me a bit and this pink thing kept pestering with some egg. Despite my repeated attempts to escape, it managed to track me down every time. So, I decided to keep it, even though I haven't even caught it or anything…_"

"A Chansey could be useful," Palmer commented thoughtfully, his brows knitted as he stared at the Chansey. "They're extremely resistant to many conventional attacks, like electric-, fire- or ice-type moves, and they can also act as field medics… one of you should use a Poké Ball to tag it."

"Good idea," Kris said. "Wes, gimme one of your balls. And no giggling at that comment!"

Wes laughed anyway as he threw a Poké Ball at Kris. The ball was still in its smaller form, but Kris pushed a button on the side, enlarging it to the size of a baseball. But instead of throwing it at the Chansey, he passed it to Shane, who recoiled in confusion.

"M-me?" Shane squealed. "But I already have Shrew!" he protested as he put the little yellow armadillo/mole-thing on the floor. "I don't usually battle or anything…"

"Exactly," Kris said. "Me and Wes will do the fighting! I don't want you getting into any dangerous situations, cause you can be a little, err… well, you can be a sort of a support guy! A medic! Not that I doubt your fighting prowess, but err… you know what I mean!"

"What she's saying is," Wes said as he placed his hand on Shane's shoulder in an almost big-brotherly manner, "that we could use someone to patch us warriors up during the heat of the battle. Remember Shane: medics are the most reliable and the most important people on the battlefield. We need ya for this! A'ight?"

Kris sighed and smiled at the two. Slowly but surely, Wes seemed to be more and more able to get along with Shane, despite his early grumbling. Shane nodded at Wes, took the Poké Ball that Kris gave him and threw it at the Chansey.

Chansey didn't resist as the Poké Ball hit. It converted Chansey into a red beam of energy and sucked it inside. The lid of the Poké Ball closed as the thing dropped on the ground. It didn't even wiggle on the ground like it usually did, and the red light in the center wasn't on. Chansey certainly didn't seem to mind its new ownership… maybe it was unhappy at the hospital?

As Shane picked Chansey's Poké Ball up and stared at with awe, probably deep in his own thoughts (or lack thereof) at the moment. Meanwhile, Palmer continued his lecture:

"So, this Eusine fellow," he said, starting to walk around the room. "I have no pictures… not even a last name. But you'll definitely know him when you see him. From what I've gathered, he's an… eccentric fellow. The weirdest thing, though, is that he doesn't even attempt to hide the fact that he's stinking rich! And I'm talking about 'rich enough to eat solid gold Feebas for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day'-rich."

"That can't be good for his digestion," Kris muttered.

"Apparently," Palmer continued, "Eusine was born in Celadon City to some rich family, probably the owners of the Pokémon Mansion. He inherited a humongous fortune, which he now uses to go across the country in search of legendary Pokémon."

"Oh, cool!" Shane exclaimed, having been snapped out of his daydreaming. "Have I already told you that I have 'legendary Pokémon' trading cards? I'm sure of some of them were fake, though. I've never heard of a 'MewThree' for example, but-"

"Also," Palmer said, interrupting Shane's nonsense, "he makes a lot of donations to charities and different organizations, and in return is allowed to go basically wherever he wants. What I want to know is… if he's stinking rich, why bother to be a bounty hunter? I mean, most of them are just poor, uneducated yokels like Wes here."

"Can't argue with that," Wes said.

"We'll figure that out later," Kris said firmly, ready to go away now so she could get it over with. "So we're just supposed to meet this Eusine and ask him to join us and stuff?"

"Well, like Leaf, I'm sure he wants something done first," Palmer said. "But you're a good negotiator, right?"

Shane snorted. "Sure she is…" he laughed.

"I've got all I need for negotiation right here," Kris said, tapping Croc's Poké Ball on her belt. "Should it come down to it, Eusine gets a choice between joining us or getting castrated by a Feraligatr!"

"Damn, Kris!" Wes exclaimed appreciatively as he, Kris and Shane turned tail and started to walk upstairs, to the surface. "I knew joining this group was a good call!"

**~o~O~o~**

**_Location: Lake of Rage, Johto_**  
><strong><em>Approx. forty-five minutes later…<em>**

The Lake of Rage, also known as the Gyarados Lake, was said to be a water-filled crater created by rampaging Gyarados eons ago. Surrounded by labyrinthine forests and a few old, wooden houses with over-enthusiastic fishermen living in them. The gray sky reflected off the lake's surface, and though it wasn't frozen, Kris was certain that going for a swim in December was not a good idea. The surface of the water remained unbroken and smooth, as not even a single Magikarp decided to plop on the surface. How disappointing…

Kris took a deep breath as she arrived to the lake, Wes and Shane right behind her and Shrew walking behind Shane. The air was cold, but fresh and clean, a welcome change to the urban environments.

"Well, then," Kris said and clapped her hands together, turning to face Wes and Shane and trying to sound as convincing as she could, though she felt that she really needed some coffee to get her going after the last trip. "I guess we should start looking for Eusine. Any suggestions?"

"Is that him?" Shane asked and pointed at something behind Kris.

Kris sighed, but nonetheless turned around to look at the terribly fascinating and shiny thing Shane had most likely spotted.

However, she almost fell down in shock when she saw a man standing on a rock a few yards away from the shore. _He wasn't there just before_… the man, Eusine, had brown, slick-back hair and he was wearing a fancy purple suit and a white cape, causing him to look like a magician, complete with white gloves and a red bowtie. Either that or he thought of himself as some superhero. _I wonder if he likes comics as well_, Kris thought. _'Dialgaman vs. Palkiaman', 'The Adventures Of The Incontinent Snorlax', 'Latias' Journey', all those…_

"Eusine!" Kris yelled as she, Shane and Wes rapidly approached the lake's shore. "Hey! You! Are you Eusine?"

Eusine turned on his rock very dramatically, the wind fluttering his cape behind him. He really loved his theatrics, apparently. Even moreso than that Fernando…

"Hasty as your assumption may be, you would be correct, m'lady!" Eusine proclaimed.

_Oh, Suicune save me, it's one of those guys again…_

"Has Palmer told you about our arrangement?" Kris inquired. "You wanting to join our group to bring down the Committee and save the world from something or other, maybe? Or not, I dunno."

"I do have a recollection of engaging this Mr. Palmer in a conversation a while ago, indeed!" Eusine said pretentiously. "However, I have conditions that need to be met before we set forth on this worthy adventure!"

_I shoulda known…_"Name them!" Kris yelled as she folded her arms. "I have no time for more pointless crap!"

Eusine responded by leaping from his rock, towards shore. Though he managed to get on dry land without falling into the water, he tripped on his cape when he landed, falling face down on the ground.

Not wanting anyone to help him (though no one even made a gesture to do so), Eusine quickly picked himself up, dusted his suit and adjusted his bowtie. He still remained close to the shore, staying away from Kris, Wes and Shane.

"I have dedicated my life to the search of the legendary Pokémon we untrained human minds refer to as 'Suicune'," Eusine explained. "I admire its every feature: its grace, the way it purifies water with a touch of its paw, its speed as it races across regions, oceans, even countries! I pray to one day discover the legendary Pokémon and claim it as mine!"

"Nerd!" Shane mocked.

Kris stomped on Shane's foot, causing him to howl in pain. Kris ignored it, as he was more fascinated by Eusine's remark. A pompous jerk of a guy, sure, but did he know something about Suicune? Where it could be at the moment?

"Uh, yeah, well I agree you about Suicune," Kris said. She couldn't help but to sigh as she started thinking about the legendary Suicune and all those things that Eusine mentioned and more… _ahem! Anyway_. "So… have you tracked it down?"

"Almost certainly!" Eusine said. "The elusive beast is somewhere around this lake! Why do you think I chose this location as the site of our little palaver?"

"I recognize some of the words," Shane said, "but are you sure you're not just making stuff up as you go along?"

"He totally is, dummy," Wes said, slapping the back of Shane's head for no apparent reason. "Watch yerself 'round these upper-class dudes, Shane!"

"Yeah, he looks totally dangerous," Shane said sarcastically and laughed. "Oh no, he's going to kill me with his overgeled hair!"

Eusine seemed to scratch his head and adjust his hair after that comment, feeling a bit self-conscious. Kris tried to take the subject away from fancy words and hair gel:

"So, uh… can you lead us to it?" Kris asked nervously while kicking the ground and looking away from Eusine. "I won't guarantee that we'll help you catch it, but… 'twould be nice to see it, is all… you know?"

Eusine didn't answer the question yet. He rubbed his chin and looked at Kris, then glanced at both Wes and Shane. He then turned his back to Kris dramatically and started pacing back and forth.

"So," he said while walking, "before I join this little group of yours… I've heard that you met the doctor, Leaf Greene, in Saffron yesterday."

"That was yesterday?" Wes wondered. "Feels more like a week, if not two…"

"Yeah, we did meet her," Kris said, her nervousness increasing, turning to suspicion and paranoia. "Why do you ask?"

"She probably had a C-Gear with her, no?" Eusine asked curiously. "One of these, I mean?" he added, lifting his sleeve a bit to show that he had a C-Gear on his wrist too.

"How did you-" Kris quickly swallowed the end of the sentence before she gave anything away - this was getting too suspicious. "Uh, I mean, again, why do you ask?"

"I know that Leaf's C-Gear has a lot of important data on it," Eusine announced. "I know quite a lot more than you think! I happen to be aware of things that would drive all of you to the brink of madness!"

"You walked past that brink a long time ago…" Wes grumbled, scowling at Eusine. He was beginning to suspect something too, though Shane was just staring obliviously.

"Is that so?" Eusine said and smiled smugly. "Well, if you don't wish to talk about Dr. Greene's data, that's fine… but I know things about you three as well. I know that you'll never help me capture the amazing Suicune…"

Eusine looked at the lake, and pointed at the opposite shore, where there didn't seem to be anything but more trees.

"The beast that I seek lies there!" Eusine yelled. "I can't allow you stop me… and some people made a better deal!"

Kris head rustling from the bushes nearby, but didn't have time to ready her Pokétch, as heavily armored soldiers started to pop from everywhere: from the bushes, from behind rocks, from behind the Fishing Guru's house, even emerging from the lake in scuba gear. They all electric-type Pokémon with them: Magnemite, Magneton, Electrike, Manectric… all ready to fry Kris, Wes, Shane and Shrew with electricity.

"Holon Security Forces," Wes grumbled. "Right arm of the Committee… we walked into a trap!"

Kris, Wes and Shane moved closer to each other, so they were now back to back. Wes was ready to grab a Poké Ball on his belt, Kris set her Pokétch to Ice Beam while Shane just looked around in panic, Shrew shivering at his feet.

"I cannot allow you to interfere with my Suicune hunt!" Eusine said with enough zeal to sound like a villain from a Saturday morning cartoon. "These fellows agreed to help me get Suicune all to myself… in exchange for your lives, of course. No hard feelings!"

And with that, Eusine turned tail and started running towards the forest, most likely in attempt to circle around the lake to get to the other side. The HSF soldiers' Pokémon started sparkling threateningly.

"Get down!" Kris screamed.

"THUNDERBOLT!" yelled all the HSF soldiers, there being about twelve of them.

She quickly threw herself on the ground, pulling Shane and Wes with her. The electric attacks of the Pokémon missed, instead hitting each other and bouncing off from the ground. However, Shrew just stood still, the electric attacks harmlessly bouncing off its body. The Sandshrew seemed to be paralyzed by fear, not realizing that the attacks couldn't hurt it.

"Yes!" Kris yelled triumphantly as Shrew just absorbed the attacks, much to the HSF troops' confusion. "Shane, do you know what to do?"

"I'm not much of a battler, but me and Shrew have come up with something!" Shane yelled back. "Shrew, Defense Curl!"

Sandshrew curled itself into a ball, the smooth surface of its body suddenly looking much shinier.

"Now, Rollout!" Shane ordered.

Still curled in a ball, Shrew started rolling at an incredible speed towards an Electrike charging at it. With the lethality comparable to Samus Aran, Shrew quickly dispatched the Electrike with a single hit, then started rolling towards the other Pokémon. Quickly, it managed to knock out another Electrike and a Magneton, then rolled away before it could be hit with any other attacks.

"Elemental resistance," Kris remarked as she, Wes and Shane got up. "Ain't it a bitch?"

Kris quickly summoned Croc from its Poké Ball, while Wes decided to go with his Ninetales.

"Nice strategy, Shane," Wes complimented as Shrew still rolled amidst the electric-types and the HSF soldiers, indiscriminately hitting the both and drawing the soldiers' attention as they attempted to stab it with electric knives. "Now use that Chansey you got!"

"Right," Shane agreed.

Shane released the cheerful pink Pokémon from its Poké Ball. While Croc and Ninetales still hadn't recovered from their last sorties, Chansey's over-excited happiness looked rather awkward.

"I know, I know, I gotta heal them," Shane said, proud that he actually knew what to do for once. "Now, Chansey use… use… err… yes, assuming that I wouldn't know what move to use... what should I do?"

"Softboiled!" Wes growled.

"Yes, that!" Shane said. "I knew that. Chansey! Use Softboiled!"

Chansey nodded to Shane, then stood still and spread its arms. As Shrew kept the HSF soldiers distracted, two glowing eggs suddenly appeared from Chansey's pouch. They hovered across the air and exploded above the Feraligatr and the Ninetales. Glowing bits rained on the two Pokémon, healing them in the process as they quickly looked more vibrant and energetic.

A Manetric leapt towards Ninetales, but Ninetales swiftly retaliated with Quick Attack, simultaneously dodging the Manetric's assault and retaliating.

"My Feraligatr doesn't have much going against these electric-types," Kris said to Wes as quickly as possible. "I'm going after Eusine! Take care of things here for me, right?"

"You got it!" Wes grinned.

Surprisingly, Wes didn't limit himself to just attacking with his Pokémon. He let out some kind of battle roar and charged towards a HSF soldier, tackling him to the ground, while Ninetales used Flamethrower against a Magneton that was about to attack.

Kris and Croc started to run after Eusine, towards the lush, green forest path on the east side of the lake. A large HSF soldier suddenly appeared in front of Kris, trying to block her path, but Kris quickly retaliated by launching an Ice Beam from her Pokétch. The soldier froze, and Croc pushed him down for good measure as the two ran towards the forest.

As Kris and Croc ran, the sounds of the battle were quickly left behind them. She was now trudging along the damp and narrow forest path, insects all around her thanks to the vicinity of the lake. Caterpie and Weedle watching from the ground, Yanma flying by, Metapod and Kakuna hanging from the tree branches. The soil was wet, so Eusine's footprints were clearly visible.

Suddenly, however, the footprints simply stopped, as if Eusine had vanished in the air. Kris and Croc stopped as well. They had left the path and were now in a clearing, not quite on the other side of the lake, but far enough so that they couldn't hear any noise from Wes and Shane's battle against the Security Force soldiers.

"Where could he have gone…" Kris muttered to herself.

She didn't say it to Croc, but to herself. She was nervous, sweating, jumpy. _Why does this always happen?_Kris brandished her Pokétch, ready to fire at the slightest noise.

"In here!"

Kris quickly turned to the direction of the noise. She had a split-second to dodge as Eusine tried to jump on her from a tree.

As Kris rolled out of the way, Eusine crashed into the ground instead, but once again picked himself up and dusted himself off. As Eusine snapped his fingers, a Poké Ball somehow appeared into his hand.

"Electrode, go!" he yelled.

A large, spherical Pokémon appeared in front of Kris. Electrode was like an upside down Poké Ball, only much larger, its height being about 3'11''. It constantly had a mischievous grin on its face, too, exposing its "teeth", or whatever the Electrode equivalent was.

"Electro Ball!" Eusine ordered.

"Croc, evasive action!" Kris shouted, unable to think of any countermoves.

But Electrode was simply too fast for the lumbering Feraligatr, and the yellow orb of electricity exploded right in Croc's face. The Feraligatr fell down, but quickly got up again, still ready to fight.

_Croc's been through a lot, he can take it_, Kris thought to calm herself down. _Eusine is just a clown… Croc can take it… He has to take it…_

Eusine waved at Kris infuriatingly before escaping to the forest again, leaving the Electrode to fight for itself. Without its masters orders, its moves became less coordinated, so it attempted to strike Croc with a Rollout, which Croc countered with a Slash, sending the Electrode backwards.

"I have to get Eusine before he gets to Suicune!" Kris told Croc. "Can you handle this?"

Croc simply nodded and assumed a combat stance, roaring at the Electrode while Kris ran after Eusine, following the footsteps on the muddy ground.

Kris soon left the clearing, and started to follow another, even narrower path, running past the trees, bushes and thickets, cutting through everything in her path. Finally, she appeared to another clearing, this one being at the exact opposite of the lake. It was impossible to see what was on the other side - hopefully Wes and Shane had dealt with the soldiers already. Well, Wes might have, but…

However, Eusine was there, his arms crossed and his cape dramatically fluttering in the wind.

"Not one step further," Eusine said coldly as Kris was about to approach him. "Suicune is somewhere in this area. My men have surrounded the Lake of Rage. It's going to be mine!"

"Look, that kind of obsession can't be healthy!" Kris said. "Read a good book once in a while, work on your people skills… just stop trying to catch that thing. It's impossible. Even with the Committee's support," Kris added slyly, wanting to get info out of Eusine - whose side was he on?

Eusine just scoffed arrogantly and took another Poké Ball from his pocket.

_Oh crap…_

"You didn't actually think that was my only Pokémon?" Eusine taunted.

"Well, I… no?"

Eusine threw the Poké Ball right at Kris' feet. An Alakazam came out of the ball, readying the two spoons it held in its hands. Kris took a few steps back, stumbled on a rock and fell on her back, desperately retreating from the psychic Pokémon.

"Alakazam, Psychic!" Eusine ordered.

Kris had no Pokémon left on her. She tried to use her Pokétch, but Alakazam was freakishly fast: its eyes glowed blue and a strange aura surrounded its entire body.

As soon as the attack hit Kris, she felt unimaginable pain in her head, as if someone was trying to crush her head in a vice. The blue aura surrounded her too, and she soon felt getting lifted on her feet forcefully, by Alakazam's psychic powers alone. The attack raised her high in the air while Kris felt that entire body was squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. Her eyes were closed and she was grinding her teeth together, desperately trying to move even a finger, but it was in vain. Alakazam was just too powerful for her…

Somewhere in the distance, she heard Eusine's voice: "_We have no time for this! Finish her off already_!"

Kris forced her eyelids open, seeing Alakazam preparing its spoons for another attack.

_Well, this is it. Great life I had and all that. Well, not really, but, uh… could have been worse, or something?_

The pain stopped.

Kris was able to move again, opening her eyes and seeing the aura around her gone. She had fallen on the ground and saw something blue and shiny tackling Eusine's Alakazam to the ground.

"Jesus!" Eusine exclaimed at the sight of the blue Pokémon.

"Nope," said a feminine voice somewhere. "Just Suicune."

Yellow emerged from the forest, not accompanied by her Lucario this time. Eusine ignored her however, as his eyes became fixed on Suicune. He stared at the Pokémon he spent his life trying to capture with almost terrifying lust. Kris got on her feet, just in time to see Eusine snapping out of his temporary trance and getting a Poké Ball ready.

"Finally!" he exclaimed. "I knew it! I knew I could capture it! Today, the hunt finally ends! Alakazam, use Psychic!"

Alakazam's eyes glowed again, but Suicune was quick to retaliate. Though Kris didn't recognize it, she figured Suicune was using Mirror Coat, as it released a blue, spherical energy shield around its body, deflecting Alakazam's Psychic, causing the attack to hit the Alakazam instead. Then, Suicune let out a powerful, innard-tingling roar which was almost enough to freeze Kris' blood. The roar caused Alakazam to return itself to Eusine's Poké Ball.

Eusine could only watch in amazement as Alakazam's Poké Ball wouldn't open no matter how hard he tried. "What the-?"

Cursing under his breath, Eusine desperately threw the empty Poké Ball towards Suicune, but Suicune easily deflected it off as well. Eusine clenched his fists.

"Why?" he wailed. "I've been waiting this for so long! I can't fail now!"

"You need to let go, Eusine," Yellow said calmly as she took a few steps in Eusine's direction. "You have to realize that you can't obsess over something like this. I respect that you gave yourself a purpose, but… you need to realize what else makes life worth living. Suicune is a living, sapient being, just like you are, and you need to respect its will."

"What are you talking about!" Eusine spat at Yellow.

Eusine looked terrible: sweaty, unfocused, his normally slick hair all messed up. But his face was the worst: he looked like a man who was completely lost in his mind, with nothing to live for anymore, with all the life sucked out of him. He couldn't even scream or cry or rage at the world. He just collapsed on his knees, staring at Suicune longingly, while Suicune didn't even pay him any attention.

Kris quickly turned when she heard footsteps behind her, but fortunately, it was just Wes and Shane, followed by Croc, Shrew and Shane's new Chansey. Both Wes and Shane's clothes were badly singed, but they seemed to be perfectly fine otherwise. Wes was aiming his revolver at Eusine - fake or real, it did look impressive when he pointed it at another person like that.

"Damn it!" Eusine yelled. "Alakazam, go!"

But even though Eusine threw his Alakazam's Poké Ball on the ground, the Pokémon itself still refused to come out.

"Take it easy, dude," Shane said as casually as ever. "We don't wanna hurt your Pokémon!"

"Yeah, but we wouldn't mind hurting you, scumbag!" Wes snarled as he grabbed Eusine by his collar and threw him on the ground. "Did the Committee send you here? Believe me, I know how to get answers from you!"

"You don't need to!" Eusine whined. "I'll talk!"

"…really?" Wes said, sounding slightly disappointed. "But you gotta understand… I haven't been able to interrogate anyone lately. Everyone seems to spill the beans pretty easily around here. Just let me pop your kidney or something… aw, come on, you don't need both of them?"

"You can do that?" Shane asked, sounding both intrigued and frightened.

"Well, it ain't gonna be pretty, but…"

"No need for violence," Yellow said serenely. She turned to Kris and smiled, though it seemed almost painful for her. Yellow was more pale and thin than the last time Kris saw her, and her clothes were all covered in leaves and dirt. "I'm glad you were able to rescue your friend, Kris. Looks like you've gotten the band back together, huh?"

Kris just nodded absent-mindedly, having heard only about half of what Yellow had said. Something something something, cryptic remark, blah blah blah. That old chestnut. She stared at Suicune instead. She certainly understood what Eusine saw in the creature: Kris hadn't noticed before, but while it deflected Alakazam's attack, Suicune was _standing on water_, somehow managing to walk on the surface of the lake. It still looked as calm and graceful as ever, the purple mane floating behind it even though it wasn't even very windy. As the mane glowed in the sunlight, Kris thought she saw many other colors, blue, green and red on it, like it was the Aurora Borealis…

Kris shook her head. _What am I doing? If I ever become as fixated as that Eusine guy, I want someone to shoot me in the head…_

"Uh huh, yeah, sure, that's great," Kris said to Yellow and pretended that she had listened to her. "So, uh, what brings you here?"

"We were trying to slip into Mahogany Town unnoticed," Yellow said. "We had to tell you and the group something before you headed off to that mission Palmer keeps talking about. We didn't exactly know that those HSF troops were here… but I don't think the Committee was planning on ambushing us, or you, for that matter. Eusine must have been acting on his own…"

Kris and Yellow watched as Wes forced Eusine on his feet. Despite Eusine's previous actions, Kris almost felt sorry for him now, watching as he pathetically gave one last, longing look to Suicune, his ultimate goal slipping away from him once again.

"He won't be joining your group now," Yellow said, "but I don't think it matters if you let him go. He's no one important, and they don't care about him."

"Can't we at least have him arrested?" Shane asked. "I mean, if we tell about his crimes to the International Police, surely them, the government and the Pokémon League will do everything they can to protect us!"

Kris couldn't think of anything non-sarcastic to say, so she didn't say anything. Wes was trying to stifle his laughter, having to turn away from Shane and pretend that he was coughing. But Yellow just smiled at him.

"Why can't everyone be more like you, Shane," Yellow said quietly.

Shane didn't understand what was going on, so he just shrugged, probably starting to think about something else now. After Wes had gotten over his fit of laughter, he once again assumed his "big-brotherly" role and put his hands on Shane's shoulders.

"Heh… no, uh this Yellow person is right," Wes said and tried not to break down laughing. "We, uh, can't resort to violence and all that. Hahah! Er-hem, we got to be above that and all… _just don't say anything like that again, Shane, I almost suffocated_!" Wes glanced at Kris as he spoke to Shane, probably trying to get a reaction out of her. "We need to, uh, be responsible and do good things and all that jazz."

"Wes, will you stop doing that!" Shane said and pushed his hand away. "You're really creeping me out with all that. Next thing I know you'll be grabbing my crotch and slapping my ass!"

"Hey, I was just trying to… shut up, Shane!"

Kris rolled her eyes and turned away from Wes and Shane's pointless bickering. She looked at Suicune again, though the Pokémon didn't seem to care about anything that was going on around it - it had completely distanced itself from the world.

"I'm pretty jealous at you, Yellow," Kris sighed. "You can talk to Pokémon. Must be nice to get away from the inane nonsense of people and talk to someone who actually has something meaningful to say…"

Yellow seemed to understand what was on Kris' mind.

"If you want to communicate with it, then go on ahead," Yellow said, smiling as cheerfully as always. "You know there are things that can be expressed even without words. And similarly, there are things words simply can't express… I honestly don't know what your fascination with Suicune is, but anything that helps people and Pokémon understand each other better is fine good in my book."

"Yeah," Kris said uncertainly. "But what if it…"

"It's not violent, that's for sure," Yellow assured. "One of the most zen-like creatures I ever saw, and I hang out with a Lucario that meditates ten hours a day. Those murders all those years ago weren't committed by Suicune… it was framed."

"I know that!" Kris said. "That's not what I meant. I was just wondering… what if it doesn't like me?"

"Only one way to find out," Yellow said ambiguously.

Kris gulped, nodded at Yellow and took a few steps in Suicune's direction. _Why do my legs feel like jell-o now?_Kris stepped to the water's edge, and Suicune sensed her approach. The moment Suicune took a few steps towards Kris, she started shaking, wondering what she should say or do.

"Uh… hi!" Kris said to the Suicune nervously, her voice more high-pitched than usual.

_Ok, not a good start… okay, get a grip, Kris, say something REALLY interesting…well, at least semi-interesting… quasi-interesting?_

"Suicune, I - ARGH!"

The scream she made wasn't part of the plan. Kris felt another nauseating headache spike hitting her all of the sudden, but it was different from Alakazam's Psychic attack. It only affected her head, but the pain was so unbearable it blocked out all other sensations. Kris collapsed on the ground right next to the Suicune, which retreated hastily, afraid of how Kris started convulsing on the ground, holding her head and screaming.

She couldn't struggle against it. Something in her head told her she had to give in to the pain… give in to… the pain…

The Lake of Rage was suddenly gone. When Kris opened her eyes, she didn't seem to be anywhere. There was nothing but a black void around her, though she could still see herself as clearly as in broad daylight. But the pain in her head wouldn't go away.

She felt as if something or someone was talking in her head. Many voices, very powerful ones, that echoed in her skull and felt like they were turning her brains into a slushie.

The voices spoke to her:

_"We apologize for this, Agent Five, but there was no other way to contact you."_

_"Did you really think we would just give experimental brain chip technology just so you could use Pokémon attacks? From the very beginning, the purpose of your implants were supposed to control and regulate your thoughts."_

_"However, direct mind manipulation doesn't work as well as we had predicted. For now, all we can do is contact you."_

_"We wish to express our heartfelt apologies in behalf our agent… our soon-to-be ex-agent, Eusine. It was not our intention to meddle in your, well… affairs. Rest assured, Eusine was acting alone."_

_"But the technology he was carrying allowed us to directly reach the chip in your brain. It may feel inconvenient, perhaps, but we need to monitor our… investments."_

_"For now, carry on as intended. We're certain that all will be explained to you by Mr. Palmer, though we wonder if you can handle the truth, Five. "_

_"And remember: if we want to contact you, we will. That is all."_

_"This meeting is adjourned."_

Kris took a deep breath and quickly opened her eyes. The pain was gone, the voices were silent and she was face down on the ground at the Lake of Rage once again. Suicune and Yellow were gone, while Wes and Shane were still bickering in the distance. Wes still holding the helpless Eusine in a chokehold, though he didn't even make a move to get away.

Shane was the first to notice Kris waking up, so he quickly rushed to her aid.

"Kris, are you-"

Wes also did the same, pushing Shane away as he grabbed Kris' hands and pulled her up on her feet.

"Here, let me help you," Wes said. "By the way, you got some dust on your shirt, mind if I-"

"Yes, I mind," Kris said, hands on her forehead even though there was no pain anymore. "Would it be too much to ask what happened?"

"Suicune was startled by your sudden freakout," Shane explained, "and it ran off to the forest. Yellow followed it, and we realized that you had passed out. We were just arguing over the best way to give you PCP… or RCR… or whatever it was, then, all of the sudden, you were awake. And then there was this conversation, but I don't know what happened after that…"

The only thing Kris cared about at the moment was the fact that Suicune had gone. Why did that have to happen _now_? She was so close to coming to understand the thing… maybe. Or that's what she told herself, anyway. But she certainly wasn't in the mood to talk about what happened to Wes or Shane... not now when she was still on the verge of throwing up, even without the headache. Two mind-attacks in one day couldn't be healthy...

"I'll tell you later," Kris muttered, feeling that she would punch someone in her frustration. "Come on, forget about Eusine and let's get back to the hideout."

"Uh, I snatched this from him," Wes said and showed that he was holding Eusine's C-Gear. "Want me to-?"

"Yeah, you can carry it," Kris said despondently. "Whatever. Let's go."

Kris stomped away, Croc following behind her nervously. Wes and Shane exchanged puzzled looks, but followed Kris anyway, with Shrew trying to keep up with everyone with its stubby legs.

"That Yellow girl sure was nice, though," Shane said cheerfully, not realizing he was getting on Kris' nerves. "Real pretty thing, too."

"I thought you were, you know, not into women," Wes grinned. "Or wait… you were one of those guys who're into both jazz and tango?"

"Hey!" Shane protested. "I can be politically incorrect too! You're from Orre, right? How's your sister doing? When're y'all gunna have them kids?"

"Shane, I'm this close to punching you again!" Wes threatened, though Shane didn't care.

"Hey, guys," Shane said, laughing to himself while he spoke. "How's this one: what do Orreans call a guy who can screw in a light bulb?"

"What?"

"A Ph. D!"

*_smack_*

"Ow!"

This went on throughout the whole trip through Route 43 and to Mahogany Town. Longest forty-five minutes in Kris' life.

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: The Document Manager is angry at me for some reason, so I had to copypaste this chapter here. Should be mostly clean of errors, but you never know when those typos creep up on you. I hope y'all like it. According to my plan, the next two chapters will be slightly less action-based and have more dialogue, character development, plot development and stuff, especially the very next one. Speaking of which...**_

_**Coming up next: Chapter Eleven - 'Live Worth Living'. Our group, which currently includes Kris, Wes, Leaf, Silver, Fernando and Shane, are sent on their big mission. They are told what to do and spend their last night on land, discussing their pasts and wondering what the future will bring... et cetera.  
><strong>_


	11. Life Worth Living

**Chapter Eleven: Life Worth Living**

_**Location: Briefing Room, Palmer's hideout, Mahogany Town, Johto  
>December 10<strong>__**th**__**, 9 PM**_

"All right, time for a recap," Palmer said.

Kris, Wes, Shane, Leaf, Silver and Fernando all sat near Palmer's desk, watching Palmer walking back and forth while addressing his 'troops'. Shrew was sleeping soundly in Shane's lap. The rest of the Pokémon, or at least most of them, were also outside their balls, though they were mostly just relaxing and ignoring Palmer's speech. Croc had to be kept on a leash outside, as it was too impatient for a battle to settle down. Shane's new Chansey, Leaf's Cubone and Rapidash and Silver's Weavile were just eating and hanging around, while Wes kept his Pokémon in his Poké Balls, having visited Mahogany's Pokémon Center the other day to patch them up.

"About four and a half years ago, Professor Kaminko set up SledgeHammer and Extranormal Operations," Palmer listed, "an organization supposedly 'protecting the people from the dangerous Pokémon'. In reality, it was just one of the Committee's subsidiaries, and the whole purpose of the organization was to do illegal, unethical experiments on humans and Pokémon…"

Leaf looked particularly guilty and glanced at her Cubone while Palmer said that last part. How was she supposed to now? She was just… following orders. Silver didn't say a word to comfort her or didn't even look in Leaf's direction, but still covertly put his arm around Leaf. Somehow, it made things slightly better.

"And if that wasn't enough," Palmer continued, "they recruited Kris, Lyra, Silver, Touko, Touya and Shane to be these 'Extranormal Operatives'. Or, to be precise, they trained you guys to kill legendaries that would be a threat to humanity's superiority, as a sort of a 'pre-emptive strike'."

Kris felt like screaming that it wasn't her fault, but instead she just sat there, arms folded, staying as far away from everyone as possible.

But in reality, she wasn't angry to anyone but herself. Well, and Kaminko and the Committee of course, but mostly to herself. How did she not see it coming? All that training, the surgical implants… just to make her an effective weapon against legendary Pokémon. Heatran and Darkrai… if she had some sense to question her orders, both of them would still be around…

"From what I've heard," Palmer said, "Touko and Touya botched their very first assignment. Touko returned home, but her boyfriend did not. Touko refused all therapy and became your drill instructor instead. She was already aggressive, a bit violent and pushy, but in an admirable way. After Touya's 'death' she became… crazy. As for Touya… well, you need to explain that one for me."

"They thought he had died," Leaf explained, trying to get away from the guilt, even if she wasn't _directly_ involved in the project. "But instead, they brought his near-dead body back to the base and let Blaine… rebuild him. They used cybernetics and parts from a Genesect that Blaine had revived. Though the original Genesect was destroyed, the blueprints were stolen…"

"Oh, that's why we encountered those things at N's castle in the sky!" Wes exclaimed, having slowly pieced things together. "Someone stole the blueprints from your lab and sold them to Team Plasma. But who?"

Everyone turned to look at Fernando, who was now wearing his old Rocket Grunt uniform and domino mask again. He whistled innocently and twiddled his thumbs, but eventually gave in under pressure: "Okay, okay, no need to be all white knight about it. I needed the money, Ghetsis paid me for the blueprints."

"So Team Plasma might have an army of cloned Genesect with 'em?" Palmer asked, while Fernando just shrugged. "Well, this is going to be a hit harder than I thought, then… Giovanni isn't going to hesitate to throw everything he's got at us."

"Yeah, that's his style," Silver remarked casually, still the same stoic as ever. "Still, kill them with fire, that's my advice."

"Works for me," Wes agreed.

"So, you guys had surgery," Palmer continued. "Experimental technology to make you guys as powerful as Pokémon. Didn't go quite as planned, though, but you can still use Pokémon powers, or at least the same moves your own Pokémon have. Then what?"

"First we took down Heatran," Kris reminisced.

"No, you _tried_ to take down Heatran," Silver reminded. "In case you don't remember, it was me, you, Lyra and Shane at the Stark Mountain. Shane was in trouble, but you ignored him to get to Heatran first. Then the three of you were taken down and I almost lost a leg there. _I _had to call for Touya to save the day and capture the damn magma frog thingy! Not that I'm bitter or anything, just pointing it out."

Kris hung her head in shame. Leaf scolded Silver by punching his arm, but it was true. She did remember it, but wasn't particularly proud of that memory. Fortunately, Palmer continued his recap.

"So, the Committee extracted Heatran's 'core'," Palmer said. "For what purpose, I don't know, but it seems all legendary Pokémon have something inside them that makes them super-powerful. I'm still going over all that data in that Eusine's C-Gear, and it seems that some of the myths and legends surrounding legendary Pokémon are true, but a majority are false, made up by humans who admired their power. It's only natural that the Committee would want this power."

"They also have the Magma Rock and Cresselia's Lunar Wing," Leaf said. "I didn't have a chance to do much research about them, but it seems that the Committee wants to turn them into some kind of weapons."

"What about Darkrai?" Silver asked. Kris noticed that he was talking to Leaf, not to the others.

"Hmm… that's a tricky one," Leaf muttered. "Juniper studied it before she died, but from what I can tell, the Committee didn't get Darkrai's core. But I distinctly remember that Kaminko ordered us to blow it up, so Touya and his Samurott did it. I heard them talking about something called the 'seed' of Darkrai… though I have no idea what it was about. I need more time to go over this data."

"Let me know when you find something," Palmer said. "What happened after Darkrai's fall?"

"Well, I can't remember for sure," Kris said, "but all of us started to feel that working for Kaminko wasn't exactly the right thing to do. We started to think for ourselves. We were young and gullible when we were recruited. Now we're just young."

"Shane," Palmer said, alerting Shane who hadn't been paying attention at all. "I realize this is a personal question, but… weren't you, err, dating Cheren Black for a while?"

"C…Cheren?" Shane mumbled, his earlier cheerfulness gone. "Oh, I… I…"

"Oh, just spill it," Kris said impatiently, not wanting to talk about that slick businessman anymore. "Cheren Black used you to get inside info! He didn't care about you! He just wanted to bring down the Committee! Uh… no offense, Shane."

Shane sighed and buried his head in the palm of his hand. Kris didn't realize what she had said until she saw Shane crumble like that. She felt the familiar sensation of guilt in her gut, but couldn't think of anything comforting to say, so she turned away from Shane.

"Well, regardless, Cheren got what he wanted," Palmer said. "He apparently used the Magma Rock to create some kind of weapon, stealing the specifications from the ENO base. I don't think he had anything personal against you… he just blew up the base to bring down the Committee's biggest investment. The weapon he used for it was unstable, so it blew up himself in the process. It's a good thing Leaf happened to find out about it so she could save everyone."

Leaf just smiled bashfully, though obviously felt proud of her achievement. Kris just pouted. _Well, I could have done something heroic too. I just happened to be busy, that's all…_

_Wait a minute…_

"One more thing about Cheren," Kris said quickly, getting Palmer's attention. "Palmer, you said you didn't know who he 'worked for', but Yellow told us that Cheren was one of 'her people' or something."

"Really?" Palmer said with disinterest, hardly paying any attention to Kris' comment. "Well, like I said, I don't know Yellow very well, we just have a common goal. Anyway, moving on… the Committee are probably going to do anything they can to stop us, so-"

"That's another thing!" Kris interrupted.

Palmer sighed, Fernando groaned loudly and the others seemed to be confused by this, but Kris didn't care. She needed answers. She wasn't going to be manipulated anymore.

"In case you haven't noticed, the Committee hasn't even tried to capture me or attack any of us!" Kris pointed out. "They probably didn't expect Silver to break out of the hospital, but if they're so ever-present and omniscient, then how come they ain't sending armed troops here to seize us?"

"Eusine was working for them," Palmer reminded.

"I told you already!" Kris argued. "They contacted me, directly, I think. It was just a group of shadowy, disembodied voices that were really, _really_ loud, but I can't think of any other group matching that description. Eusine was acting alone! And don't look at me like I'm crazy or something: it wasn't a hallucination!"

"Easy there, Mulder," Palmer said. "It doesn't matter if they were really contacting you or not. They lie. A lot. I wouldn't believe anything they say."

"But you can't deny it!" Kris said passionately. "They haven't been trying to kill us or anything. The only opposition we have faced has been either Team Rocket or Team Plasma! All led by Giovanni!"

"Silver, I don't want you to take offense or anything," Leaf said to the perpetually frowning redhead next to her, "but do you have any info on what Giovanni could be after? He is your… well, you know."

"I don't care," Silver said coldly. "He hasn't been _anything_ to me in twenty years and that's final. Whatever he's doing, it's not good for us, or anyone else. He's just one of those people who need to be killed."

"I've been wondering about that," Palmer said thoughtfully, taking the opportunity to ignore Kris' comments. "According to your statements, Giovanni seems hell bent on taking down the Committee. To that end, he has also been trying to kill Kris and Silver, apparently. He also seems to want the data on Leaf's C-Gear… but for what purpose?"

"Let me boil it down for y'all," Wes said and stood up to emphasize his point. "Giovanni is an evil dude. He does evil things. Case closed."

Wes sat down, smiling smugly, though the others didn't seem to appreciate his theory.

"If only the world worked like that," Palmer mused. "But you all got one thing right: he's gone too far for us to let him do what he pleases. Unfortunately, taking him out isn't our top priority, so we'll just have to hope he tries to stop us again so you can kill him."

"Hell yeah!" Wes shouted.

"Now will you _please_ tell us what you want us to do?" Kris said. "We have assembled the team. We can do without that Eusine, as all we need is his C-Gear data."

"You have been more than patient, Kris, I agree," Palmer said calmly. "Fernando, hit the lights. We're going to have another slideshow."

"Oh, yay!" Shane exclaimed and seemed to have forgotten all about his painful traumas. "Somebody make some popcorn!"

"_Shh_!"

Fernando turned off the lights, then prepared the old-fashioned projector on the back of the room. Everyone turned their chairs so they were facing a blank wall where the images were projected, though Kris still kept her distance from the others while Leaf and Silver somehow managed to sit next to each other again.

"Begin!" Palmer said.

Fernando clicked a button, and the first slide was projected on the wall. It was a picture of a ship. It was hard to see it in the picture, but the ship was apparently humongous, somewhat of a cross between a luxury liner and a battleship.

"This," Palmer announced dramatically, "is the _S.S. Neptune_. Note that whenever you say _Neptune_, you have to do it in italics. Anyway, it was designed by Captain Stern and assembled at the Slateport City shipyard in Hoenn. However, a majority of the parts were put together in Unova. There's a bunch of different companies involved in the development of the ship, and one of them caught my eye. I eventually found out that the ship's engine was built by a dummy corporation of Devon."

"…so?" Kris asked snidely.

"_So_," Palmer said, "you're looking at the Committee's most advanced technological achievement. Thanks to Yellow and her friends, we found out that the engines were made from Heatran's core, allowing it to stay mobile practically forever without any need for fuel. The Lunar Wing and parts of the Magma Rock were installed as the ship's armaments. Apparently, they recovered Cheren's weapon after he used it, so we're looking at a ship that can blow up a major city from anywhere on the face of the Earth. For defensive purposes, of course," Palmer added, talking with a husky, overdramatic voice.

Everyone stared in silence at the innocuous-looking ship. _So this is why we almost got killed dozens of times when going after legendary Pokémon? To build _this_ thing?_ _I feel sick_…

"And that's not even the best part," Palmer said. "It seems that they have some Darkrai technology in it too… don't ask me how, but that thing can sail anywhere, and yet you won't see it on the radar."

"So how do you know all this, then?" Silver asked skeptically.

"Like I said, Yellow's 'friends' told me most of this," Palmer explained. "Top-secret or not, there isn't a place in the world where a little Rattata or something can't sneak into. Yellow's powers aren't anything to laugh at. 'Sides, stealth technology or not, that thing is _big_. It can't make itself invisible… yet. But it's not finished yet, either."

"…you think they're going after more legendary Pokémon?" Leaf whispered.

"Almost certainly," Palmer said. "Take a look at this. Next slide, Fernando!"

Fernando grumbled something about not being Palmer's servant, but pressed a button anyway. The image of the ship disappeared, and was replaced by a scaled-down map of some kind: it was the map of the Pokémon nation, or the parts Kris knew, anyway. Kanto and Johto in the middle, Orre to the northwest from Johto, Sinnoh to the north from Kanto, Hoenn to the southwest from Johto, the Sevii Islands to the south of Kanto and so on. Holon, Unova and the Ranger regions weren't on the map.

"That thing is fast," Palmer said. "According to our sources, it left Slateport City two days ago," he said, pointing at the dot in the southwest corner of the map, "and should be in Vermilion City tomorrow afternoon," he continued, pointing at another dot almost in the middle of the map. "I haven't been able to predict their destination, but Yellow and her little friends have been overhearing some conversations between crewmembers. Vermilion City is just a place to stop by, and their real target is somewhere in west Johto."

"What target?" Leaf asked, sounding like she was the only one who gave a damn.

"I'm not sure, but there really aren't much targets there," Palmer said. "Next slide!"

The map was replaced by a photograph of four, small islands, apparently taken from above. There didn't seem to be much surface features on the islands, just a small cave on each one. The islands were separated by what appeared to be whirlpools.

"These are the Whirl Islands," Palmer explained. "According to Johto folklore, there's a legendary Pokémon, 'the beast of the ocean', 'the guardian of the seas' and similar names have been dropped."

"Might be just a drunken lighthouse keeper," Kris remarked, but was quieted down by the others.

"They already have Heatran's and Darkrai's core," Palmer explained. "Once the Committee has three cores from legendary Pokémon, they basically have dominance over the entire planet. It'll upset the natural power balance and it'll be the Pokémon-Human war all over again."

"Which would suck," Wes summarized. "So what do we do?"

Palmer nodded to Fernando, who just lazily pressed a button again, projecting the next slide on the wall. It was a picture of the Vermilion Harbor, with sailors and tourists walking along the piers.

"They're picking up extra crew from the Vermilion Harbor," Palmer explained. "A group of sailors should get aboard there, and the six of you will be among them."

"All right, a cruise!" Shane cheered, waking up Shrew, who fell off of Shane's lap and landed on the floor. "Whoops! Sorry, buddy," Shane said. "Man, I'm gonna work on my tan and buy some tax-free stuff and go fishing and annoy the captain with questions about portholes and gunwales and-"

"Hold on a second!" Kris interrupted, prompting Shane to calm down.

Kris wasn't quite satisfied with Palmer's explanation. Sure, she wanted the truth, but was _that_ all? Was all this just so they could get aboard some ship and… then what?

"During our earlier slideshow, you talked something about Arceus, the Spear Pillar and the plates of origin," Kris said. "Aren't we going to go to Mt. Coronet?"

"Oh, yes," Palmer said. His expression was as blank as always, though his orange eyes shifted back and forth briefly. "There was a change of plan. Your first priority now is to stop the _Neptune_ from taking out a legendary Pokémon by infiltrating their crew. After that, I'll call you on the Xtransceiver for some additional instructions. One of you has to keep a specially modified C-Gear with you at all times. Fernando, the lights!"

Fernando turned off the projector and turned on the lights. Palmer threw him a C-Gear, which Fernando instantly used to replace the one Leaf gave him. But as Fernando was about to put the gizmo on his wrist, Palmer stopped him:

"No, not there," he said. "Though you are allowed to bring Pokétches and C-Gears aboard, you can't use them for communications anyway due to some scrambling device inside the ship. However, my Xtransceiver uses my personal satellite, operated by a Porygon2, which allows me to communicate with you. In case they try to confiscate the Xtransceivers, I need you, Fernando, to… keep it somewhere where they can't find it."

Fernando groaned in dissatisfaction and watched the C-Gear in disgust. It was smaller than the usual model, so was it supposed to be swallowed, or… _oh_. Kris almost felt sorry for Fernando as he went to a private room to "hide" the device.

"Now that you mentioned the plates, Kris…" Palmer said and circled back around his desk again. "Since one of the Committee's operatives ambushed you so close to my hideout, I feel that this place isn't secure anymore. I'll see you off tomorrow morning, then I'll destroy any important stuff in here and skidaddle. I've got plenty of other hideouts."

Palmer grabbed a brown, nondescript suitcase from under his table and threw it roughly in Kris' direction. Barely managing to catch the thing with her fingertips, Kris just gave Palmer a confused look. She shook the suitcase, hearing some rattling inside, as if there were some thin stone tablets inside…

"The plates of origin," Palmer said simply. "Take good care of 'em, as they might come in handy."

_The plates of origin_, Kris thought. _The sixteen elemental plates gathered from all over the world, in _my_ possession… oh_, HELL _yes! They're mine! Mine! MINE!_

Kris tried to sound as casual she possibly could: "Uh… thanks. Whatever, I won't lose 'em."

_They're mine…_

"I want you all to get a good night's sleep," Palmer stated. "Tomorrow you're going to embark on the most important journey of your life. Fernando has cleared the warehouse in the lower floors for you, and they have a kitchen and bathrooms there. No beds, of course, but there are plenty of sleeping bags for you."

Everyone got up from their chairs and prepared to head to their quarters, tired after the day's activities, which consisted of lots of practice battles and Pokémon training. They all gave Palmer miscellaneous comments as they walked towards the stairs.

"Most important?" Wes scoffed. "I doubt that. Have I told you about the time when there was just me and my Pokémon against a hundred… no, _thousand_ Cipher peons, and-"

"Well, nighty-night, Palmer," Shane said cheerfully. "For breakfast, I want croissants, an omelette, 2,7 glasses of orange juice, _but not a drop more_, toast and lots of Moomoo milk - it keeps the skin young!"

"And in case we all get killed, it wasn't nice to know you," Silver said to Palmer. "I know we'll be seeing each other in the morning, but I'm pretty grumpy before I get my coffee fix."

"Just in the morning?" Leaf mocked Silver. "But in the daytime, you're all sunshine, rainbows and Beautifly, right?"

"They're mine…" Kris muttered, tightly clutching to the suitcase. "Whoops, I wasn't supposed to say that out loud."

As soon as the 'kids' got into the basement, Palmer had to light another cigarette to soothe his nerves. This was not a group whose hands he would want to entrust his plan in, but he was out of options.

But as he blew some smoke in the air, he couldn't help but to smile, thinking of his 'ace in the hole'…

**~o~O~o~**

After reaching the warehouse, the group split up. Wes left his stuff near his sleeping bag which he "had dibs on", then went somewhere to train his Pokémon. It was quite a sight to see when Wes released all of them from the Poké Balls: Zebstrika, Ninetales, Espeon, Umbreon, Pidgeot and…

_Huh_, Kris thought. _I wonder why he hasn't shown his sixth one?_

Silver had also went somewhere. Kris hadn't noticed it before, but Palmer's hideout, being Team Rocket's former HQ and some kind of ninja base, had a helluvalot of rooms. Kris believed that the warehouse they were in now was at level B2, but with Fernando's constant cleaning and Palmer's almost daily renovations to the place, it was impossible to tell.

Kris, Shane and Leaf were currently going through the supplies in the rather modest kitchen, which only contained a table, five chairs and a stove, plus some rudimentary pots and kettles, most of them which were dirty and rusty. Plus, instead of food, the cupboards were mostly filled with Aprijuice, Pokéblocks and protein pills. Fortunately, Shane's new Chansey seemed to have a limitless supply of eggs, which it was currently boiling.

"You probably don't want to know where those eggs came from," Leaf said to Shane as the trio watched Chansey's cooking.

"I prefer to think that there's a magic entrance to some alternate dimension in that pouch," Shane said. "It's cooler that way. Whaddya think, Kris?"

"They're mine… what?"

Kris had spent the whole evening in some kind of trance, constantly holding the suitcase, her mind being filled with paranoid thoughts that someone would try to poison her food and get the plates from her. This is why she refused to eat anything, despite her hunger pains.

"She's crazy," Shane 'whispered' to Leaf, loudly enough for everyone in the room to hear, then turned in Kris' direction, putting on a fake smile and asking: "Still having those migraines, Kris?"

Kris responded to this with a murderous glare.

"Well, I'll go see if there's any Aspirin somewhere over here," Shane said condescendingly, talking to Kris as if she had mental problems. Which wasn't _that_ far from the truth, but still…

After Shane walked upstairs, an uncomfortable silence between Kris and Leaf ensued. Back when they were working at Extranormal Operations, they had talked maybe once or twice, but they were just too different to have any kind of meaningful conversations.

For a moment, the only sound they heard was Leaf's Cubone and Shane's Sandshrew having a practice sword fight, Cubone using its bone club and Shrew using a piece of metal that looked like it had been taken from a scythe. The little critter was obviously itching to evolve into a Sandslash, as even though Shrew was a semi-pacifist, it was also fed up with people kicking it all over the place.

Kris watched the two little Pokémon fight, wandering what Yellow's life as a psychic being able to understand Pokémon was like: instead of listening to Shrew and Cubone repeating their names while play-fighting, Kris could hear them taunting each other like "pwned, suckah!".

"Oh, by the way, Kris," Leaf said eventually, finally breaking the silence.

Kris sighed in relief, as she didn't want to be the one to start the conversation. "Yeah?" she asked.

"I forgot to mention, since the Magnet Train is out of commission, we're using my Abra to get to Vermilion," Leaf said, showing Kris another Poké Ball that was in her bag. "It's one of the test subject Pokémon I rescued before the base was blown up."

_Oh well, aren't you great and holy and better than me at everything_, Kris thought, but decided to keep those thoughts inside her, simply nodding in response. "Uh… how many of those test subjects do you have?" Kris asked eventually. "Like, are there any freaky mutant Pokémon with four nostrils in there?"

"Well, I got all of them out," Leaf explained, "But I only took Cubone and Abra with me. I gave the rest to the Volunteer House in Lavender Town."

"Oh, that's the same place where Shrew comes from," Kris said.

She looked at Cubone and Shrew, just in time to see Cubone choking Shrew with its bone club.

"Hey, break it up, you two!" Kris yelled at the Pokémon. "Sheesh, they're like kids."

"Yeah," Leaf said. "They almost remind me of-"

"-_us_, yeah, I know, you've said that a few times now!" Kris groaned, irritated by Leaf's overall presence by now. "_Us_ as in humans. Well, I'd like to see some scientific evidence on that or something! Seriously, you don't need to preach to _me_!"

Kris took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, but there was still a metric ton of pent-up emotions she wanted to pour out, most of them involving foul language. What irritated more was that Leaf didn't even try to argue back, she just knit her browns and looked at Kris. She had the same worried expression on her face as she did while looking at Silver when he was broken out of the hospital.

"And I'm _fine_, thank you very much, _Doctor_ Greene," Kris spat. "I just…"

But she couldn't really finish that sentence. What was she 'just'? Angry at spending her spare time with a bunch of freaks? Angry at the brain-scrambler implant in her head? Angry at being the top hat in a global game of political Monopoly?

"You know, you're a lot like Silver," Leaf said. "Only I think he's less emo than you."

_Oh, you really had to go there, did you_?

But coming up with a snappy comeback was just too much effort for Kris right now, so she collapsed in her chair and hung her head, feeling like all life had been drained out of her. She was both grateful and somewhat annoyed that Leaf didn't try to console her.

"You know, seeing that Eusine dude a few days ago made me think," Kris muttered. "As much as I hope he gets molested by a Tauros, I also felt a little sorry for him… the guy dedicated his entire life to catching Suicune, even though he's obviously unable to do it…"

Kris also remembered how broken and lost Eusine looked like when his dream was snatched away from him.

"What do you think makes life worth living, Leaf?" Kris asked, desperately trying not to sound like it was a cry for help.

Leaf frowned at this question and leaned back in her chair, considering and weighing all the options before answering.

"You want me to answer that?" Leaf asked, genuinely confused now. "Seriously? Me?"

"No, the similarly-named person skulking in the shadows behind you. OF COURSE I MEANT YOU!"

"Okay, okay, chill out," Leaf said anxiously, moving her chair slightly away from Kris. "Well… you gotta remember that this is just my opinion. Before my friend Julia and those two others got killed when joining Yellow's resistance-thing, the only thing I cared about was my career at the Pewter Museum. But now… I think what makes life worth living is… a goal, a belief, an achievement… something to be passionate about. Something or someone to defend, to cherish, to uphold, to believe in… I don't think it's important to think about what it _ought_ to be, just as long as you're committed to it. I mean, as long as it isn't genocide or something… well, you know."

"Done rambling?" Kris asked.

"I'm serious, Kris," Leaf said, annoyed by Kris' attitude. "Be annoyed by my beliefs all you want, but this is what gives me purpose. Working towards my goal gives me pleasure, and allows me to endure the bad parts."

Kris folded her arms again and responded to Leaf's philosophy with a sarcastic eye-roll. _Gee, thanks for this back alley philosophy_. But, then again…

"So…" Kris said, slowly digesting what Leaf had told her. "_You_ have something to believe in. Just like Yellow, Palmer, Cheren, Red and all those… but what do I have, then? I don't have anyone or anything to-"

"Yes, you do!" Leaf interrupted fiercely. "Don't say that you don't! Don't ever."

Kris wrung her hands nervously, briefly letting go of the suitcase. Leaf seemed to understand Kris' dilemma, and slowly moved her chair closer to Kris, who was almost shaking. She was seconds away from starting to chew on her hair again.

"When we get through this, Kris," Leaf said calmly, "you'll get your answers. Trust me. And besides, if you don't have anything to live for, then why are you even in this whole plan? Just because Palmer told you to? Somehow, I doubt that."

"Well, easy for you to say," Kris countered, though she was feeling much better knowing that she had something to talk about with Leaf. "You went to a fine university, had an actual social life, became a researcher and even worked with some of the best scientists in the Pokémon world. Sure, some of them didn't have both their oars in the water, but they were still brilliant… in their own way."

Leaf smiled and started reminiscing while twirling her hair around her fingers.

"To tell you the truth, Kris," Leaf said, "I wasn't recruited to Extranormal Operations because of any superior skills or knowledge or anything. I was just one of the many faceless graduates from my year who ended up working for the Pewter Museum… truth is, I got help from someone…"

"Who?" Kris asked, though she had a feeling she knew who it was anyway.

"Well… it was Silver," Leaf admitted and sighed mournfully.

"How did you two meet, anyway?" Kris asked. "I mean… smug liberal scientist meets antisocial small-time criminal… it has all the makings of a clichéd romantic comedy, but I just don't see it…"

"You _really_ wanna know?" Leaf asked, surprised by Kris' curiosity. "I thought you'd be the last person to be interested in this schmaltz."

"Hey, I'm learning!" Kris protested. "I don't wanna hear your about any pointless copulation-stories, but I'm at least trying to show some interest in your life and stuff. So, tell me!"

"It's not really a special story or anything," Leaf said, now being her turn to feel awkward. "I admit to being in a pretty fragile state of mind back then, anyway… Julia was dead and because of that, I lost this other job I applied to… a few days after that, I was about to drive home from work when I found Silver on the backseat of my car!"

"Creepy," Kris said.

"Yeah, but he had a reason for it!" Leaf said defensively ."A bunch of townspeople were giving chase to him for allegedly stealing a bunch of Boulderbadges from the gym. He made up some sob-story about how he was being persecuted just 'cuz he was an orphan. He knew how to butter me up, that's for sure, and of course with that red hair and those gray eyes and that attitude he-"

Kris coughed loudly, snapping Leaf back to earth.

"Anyway," Leaf continued, "it turns out that he really _had_ stolen those badges, but by then, I didn't really care. I helped him get away from those townspeople, and he promised to return the favor one day. I really wasn't expecting him to actually keep his promise. You wouldn't think so by looking at him, but Silver can be quite a romantic… I remember when he… well, I can't really say!"

Leaf giggled and blushed like a schoolgirl, while Kris felt like throwing up in her cap, but decided not to do it just yet.

"Well thank the bad lord downstairs for that," Kris said. "So, it was love at second sight, then? I'm sure you faced this question every day, but what did you see in him?"

"He had to earn it, I assure you," Leaf said, getting a hold of herself again. "At first, he was just 'random guy who got me a job'. But I had one more problem that needed taking care of… an ex-boyfriend, you could say. A bird keeper called Timmy."

"Elaborate," Kris said. "Uh… please?"

"Well, he made a big deal about how safe and 'nice' he was," Leaf said, her voice sounding bitter when she just thought about it. "But when it got to the point that he started tracking my every movements, hissing to every guy I talked to and suddenly causing my Snubbull to 'disappear' after a fight we had… I had to dump him. Turns out this guy wasn't so easy to get rid of. After we broke up, the bricks started flying. Literally. I had to buy a new window once a week."

"The basement that I slept in _had_ no windows," Kris retorted in a 'cry-me-a-river'-voice. "But, uh, go on."

"I could have beaten a crap out of him, though," Leaf said, causing Kris to cock an eyebrow. "_Honestly_! And yes, I know I'm just a bookworm, but Timmy was nothing more than skin, bones and clothes that smelled like Spearow poo. I just didn't want to resort to violence. Well, one night, me and Silver were hanging out in my apartment, and Timmy decided to pick them most inopportune moment to 'drop by'."

"Please tell me that Silver made Bolognese sauce out of him," Kris said, being more interested now that there was violence in the story.

"That's the beauty of it," Leaf said cheerfully. "He didn't. Silver just confronted him and his words alone made Timmy soil his overalls in the middle of a public street. I haven't seen that bird keeper ever since."

"Oh, I get it," Kris said, slightly disappointed. "Instead of opening your legs to some random guy who got you a job, you opened your legs to a random guy who got you a job _and_ threatened your ex-boyfriend. Much better."

Leaf sighed in annoyance and turned away from Kris. But even Kris was annoyed at herself. _Damn it! Keep the snark to yourself, Kris, just this once!_

"Uh… so, why did you guys break up?" Kris asked, trying to sound as polite as she could in her state of mind. "When I started working there, you two were already in pretty bad terms."

As annoyed as Leaf was at Kris at the moment, the desire to talk about herself overwhelmed that emotion, so Leaf turned to face Kris again.

"We were a happy couple for a couple of months," Leaf explained. "He actually seemed to be interested in all that science-y and activist-y stuff I yammered on and on about… and no, I wasn't interested in trying to 'change him' or anything like that. I don't think he needed changing. Underneath that cynical, grumpy, slightly antisocial shell was a good man."

"…but?"

"To tell you the truth… he frightened me," Leaf admitted nervously. "Especially when he talked about Giovanni, his father. And about what happened to his mother. And how _detached_ he sounded when he talked about it. And I noticed that I was the only he really treated with any decency… he didn't even seem to care about his Pokémon. So, short answer: daddy issues."

"Huh," Kris said plainly, processing what Leaf had said. "So… not that I care or anything, but are you gonna get back together? I mean, let's face it, you've been awfully, err… _friendly_ to each other over these past few days. Everyone notices it! Well, except Shane, maybe, but that guy is so dense that if you drop a teaspoon of him on your toes, they'd be crushed."

"I, uh… it's not that simple," Leaf stammered. "I mean, it's been great seeing him, but every once in a while he slips back into depression and all that… it's not fun to watch. And I wonder if he really cares about me at all, but just wants to-"

"Yeah, I'm done," Kris said and quickly got up.

She had gotten so used to the idea of being around Leaf and Silver that the idea of them doing anything more than holding hands made her physically ill.

Just as Kris was about to leave, Shane's Chansey placed a plate of scrambled eggs in front of her and Leaf, who enthusiastically started eating. Kris stared at the food longingly, but figured there was someone else who could eat it.

"Uh… I'm gonna go for a walk outside," Kris said and picked up the food as well as her suitcase. "Thanks, Chance. And, uh, see you later, Leaf."

Kris didn't even wait for a reply as she quickly walked past Shrew and Cubone and rushed to the stairs, carrying the plate of scrambled eggs with one hand and the suitcase containing the plates with the other.

**~o~O~o~**

It was cold and dark outside the hideout, the only source of light coming from the moon and a nearby lamppost. As Kris stepped outside, she could clearly see the silhouettes of a bunch of a Zubat hanging upside down from a tree very close by.

Croc was anxiously pacing back and forth in front of the house. It was still kept on a leash, and though it could easily break free, Kris had specifically ordered it not to. Kris had hoped that being kept outside would teach Croc some manners, but as soon as the Feraligatr saw Kris, it tried to charge towards her, perhaps still thinking it was as small as a Totodile.

"Take it easy, Croc!" Kris told the massive Pokémon as she put the plate of scrambled eggs in front of it. "I brought you some food. It's not meat, but I promise that you can eat a Rocket Grunt the next time we meet any of them."

Croc didn't seem to care about what it ate, as it instantly started eating the scrambled eggs in an almost crazed manner, slobbering all over the plate like a dog, with half the food flying on the ground as it ate.

_Just like us, eh, Leaf?_ Kris thought. _Whatever you say_…

When Kris looked around her, she almost instantly readier her Pokétch when she saw another silhouette - a man leaning to the side of the house. As she got closer, however, she noticed that it was Silver. He didn't seem to notice Kris, as he just stared at the moon quietly with his hands in his pockets, his Weavile standing next to him and imitating him.

"Um… hello," Kris said to Silver, who merely grunted in response.

Wanting to get an alternative perspective to the whole Leaf/Silver debacle, Kris walked closer to Silver and leaned to the wall the same way he did, also putting her hands in her pockets and staring at the moon. Silver didn't seem to mind.

"What were you doing out here?" Kris asked, still staring at the moon and trying to sound cool and casual, as Silver would.

"Weavile needed training," Silver simply stated. "It works best in the darkness."

"Oh, right," Kris said, and felt that Silver was making fun of her with that last statement. "Say, Silver, this might seem like a weird thing to say, but… I've been thinking…"

"Well, that does sound weird," Silver said, sounding almost bored.

_STFU!_

"I've been thinking," Kris continued while trying to avoid clenching her teeth, "about life and… stuff. What do you think makes life worth living?"

Silver's facial expression didn't change, though he didn't respond to this question immediately. Kris briefly turned to look at him, and though Silver still kept staring at the moon, Kris could have sworn that he was seeing something completely different.

"That is… an odd question," Silver said, though less sarcastically this time. "All I know is that being alive beats being dead… not that I have much experience of the latter, but I'm just making a wild guess."

"Well, I, uh…" Kris tried to avoid choking up, as she was now talking to one of the few people who could out-snark her. In her own opinion, of course. "I've always dreamed of being a respected and idolized Pokémon Trainer. Heh. Of course, the child has grown and that dream is gone, as they say… gotta believe in adult dreams now, like taking mortgages and buying boats and such, so you could die a little every day, right?"

"I don't know," Silver said and shrugged. "No sane bank is going to give me a loan anytime soon. You reap what you sow, yadda yadda, no time to wallow in the past anymore. That's not what I want, anyway."

"So… what is that you want?" Kris asked meekly. "If it's not too personal."

"It is, actually," Silver said. "But if you want my advice…"

Silver stopped talking for a moment, prompting Kris to turn and look at him again. Like previously, Silver's face was as stoic as ever, but this was the first time Kris had heard Silver being unsure of what to say.

"Yes?" Kris prompted.

"'The world belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams'" Silver said, much to Kris' bewilderment.

_Wow. Okay, he quoted that from some book he probably stole and didn't read past the first page, but I guess some of what Leaf told about him was true_.

"I like that quote," Kris said. "Eleanor Roosevelt, right? Well, it doesn't really matter who said it, but anyway… uh, say, I had a chat with Leaf…"

"Yeah, I've done that a couple of times, too," Silver said. "It's fun at first, but gets a bit annoying when she gets stuck on 'superiority mode'."

Kris sighed. _Keep the snark to yourself, Silver, just for once, damn it… oh, hang on. Oh, the irony, it burns!_

"Anyway," Kris said. "She told me how you guys got together and how you guys ended up… not-together. Well, she told me her version, so I thought…"

"I'm sure her version is more accurate than mine in every respect," Silver said reluctantly. The tone of his voice had changed, as if Kris got his metaphorical back against the hypothetical wall, even if his expression was still the same. "I believe it went like this: we meet, I make up some pathetic sob story, we get together, she finds out that I'm actually an asshole and we break up. Right?"

"Well, not in those words, but…"

"Picking up chicks is easy when you have a tragic past," Silver said, and couldn't help but to add: "And when you're as good-looking as me, of course."

_What a prick…_

But Kris grinned anyway.

"Okay, I'll drop it," Kris chuckled and checked her Pokétch. "11:42 p.m. We have to get up pretty early, you know," she said to Silver. "Shouldn't you get inside?"

"No, I shouldn't," Silver said. He didn't move a muscle, just stared at the moon. "By the way, tell your Feraligatr to keep its urges to itself. I don't care if it is in heat, you need to get it checked at a Pokémon Center before it tries to screw with everything in sight. My Weavile already had to use her claws to keep your gator at bay."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kris said. As she walked to the door, though, she didn't recall Croc, but decided to leave it outside for one more night. "G'night, Silver. See you in the morning!"

"…yeah," Silver muttered.

Just as Kris was about to open the door, however, Silver finally seemed to react:

"Hey, Kris!"

Kris turned to look at him. Finally, Silver had taken his eyes away from the moon and now looked at Kris, trying his best to look cool, but ended up looking more like a hurt Lillipup or something.

"When you spoke to Leaf," Silver said, sounding surprisingly unsure of himself, "did she, uh… well, hypothetically, do you think she'd like to… get back together?"

"Ask her yourself, dude," Kris said and walked inside, making sure she still had the suitcase with her.

**~o~O~o~**

Clutching tightly to the suitcase, Kris quickly walked past the hideout's corridors, looking to her left and to her right, making sure no one (like Fernando, for example) would suddenly jump on her and try to take the plates of origin from her.

_They're mine_…

But right when Kris was about to enter the stairs leading to the basement, someone crashed into her. Kris was about to fire an Ice Beam into whoever it was until she realized that it was Wes.

"Oops, sorry," Wes said and grinned nonchalantly. "Just trying to find the shower room. This place is a maze, I tell ya…"

"Uh huh," Kris responded and hid the suitcase behind her back. "So… how did the training go?"

"My Pokémon are better than ever!" Wes announced. "And that's saying a lot! I had some help from Shawn-"

"His name is Shane," Kris corrected.

Wes paused for a moment, then laughed in an obviously fake manner while punching Kris in the arm 'playfully'. "Course I knew that!" he chuckled. "Uh, yeah, well he helped me out a bit… he does know his way 'round Pokémon, but he became a bit useless after getting a sugar high from eating too many of 'em Pokéblocks. So, I had to put the kid to sleep."

Kris arched an eyebrow at Wes, hoping that by 'putting Shane to sleep', he didn't mean 'hitting him in the head with a blunt object'.

"Yeah, well, I'm pretty sure sugar high is just a made-up concept," Kris said when Wes refused to elaborate. "Shane is just like that most of the time."

"Yeah, I guess," Wes said, then started to drum his fingers against his waist while trying to come up with something witty to say. "Soooo… going to bed?"

"If you can call that smelly sleeping bag that, sure," Kris said.

But Kris knew that she would most likely spend the night just worrying about stuff, rolling around on the floor and feeling uncomfortable. She needed a good answer to her question from someone, and she sure as hell wouldn't get it from Shane. So, Wes was the only one left.

"Say, Wes, mind if I ask you something?" Kris said, already feeling the incoming awkwardness.

Wes apparently didn't, as he got all excited about Kris continuing the conversation.

"Sure, Krissy, what's up?" he said and clapped his hands together cheerfully.

"What do you think makes life worth living?" Kris asked.

Wes' cheerfulness seemed to fade away as suddenly as it had appeared. He obviously hadn't been prepared to _that _kind of question, so he just stood still and tried to come up with something smart and meaningful to say.

"I… um… hmm… what?" he stuttered.

"Never mind, it's not important," Kris sighed. "Good night, Wes."

"Uh… hold up, I think I got it!" Wes yelled as Kris was about to disappear to the stairs. "Being nice to others, reading a good book every once in a while and eating your veggies, right? That's all I've got!"

"That's… not _quite_ what I meant," Kris said. "Just try to come up with the answer yourself."

"Ah-hah!" Wes exclaimed and snapped his fingers. "That's it! That's what makes life worth living! In my opinion, that is! Coming up with the answers by yourself instead of relying on the word of some dusty ol' book or philosopher or whatchamacallit."

Kris shrugged.

"If it works for you, sure," she said.

Wes smiled and obviously felt more full of himself than ever before. Like Leaf and Silver, Wes also seemed to be reliving some past memories.

"Y'know, Rui once asked me the same question," he said, fondly recalling some corny ol' scene. "Did you know that she-"

"Really? Fascinating," Kris said bluntly, deciding that hiding the sarcasm in her voice wasn't worth the effort. "Good night again, Wes."

"Uh… wait!"

Kris stopped at the stairs for the second time, but patiently turned to look at Wes again. Wes was jumping up and down, like _he _was the one with the sugar rush.

"Yes, Wes?" Kris said and tried not to clench her teeth as she said it.

"This _might_ be our last night together, y'know," he said, adding some suggestive eyebrow movements to the mix. "When we get to the _Neptune_, who knows what'll happen? Maybe the tub will sink as soon as we leave the Vermilion Harbor? In case you get lonely at night… you know where to find me. You know, since we sleep in the same room and all."

"Thanks, but no thanks," Kris said without giving it a second thought. "I'm lonely _every_ night, so it doesn't really feel like anything. Plus Shane could get traumatized."

"Worth a shot," Wes shrugged. "G'nite!"

"…yeah."

Kris started walking down the stairs again. There was nothing she could do to make things less awkward now, anyway. Making sure she still had the suitcase with her and considering using a steel chain or something to attach the case to her arm, Kris walked towards the basement. As she did so, she could have sworn that she heard Wes muttering something like "it's just you and me tonight, buddy".

Kris stopped halfway through the stairs and looked behind her. Wes was standing alone.

"Did you just talk to your hand or something?" Kris asked.

"What? Of course not!" Wes protested and shook his head dramatically. "You need to see a head-doctor, Krissy, though I'm sure others have suggested it already..."

_Well, that was horrifying_, Kris thought as she continued walking downstairs. As she got there, she was relieved to find out that Shane was sleeping soundly next to his Sandshrew. All of Wes' Pokémon, Shane's Chansey and Leaf's Cubone were also sleeping in one corner, and Leaf was sleeping close by, snoring loudly.

Kris grabbed her sleeping bag from the floor and dragged it to the other side of the room, as far away from the others as possible. After that, she made sure to hide the suitcase under the sleeping bag and use it as her pillow. Just to be safe.

But as she couldn't get any sleep anyway, she just sat on the suitcase and stared at her own right hand.

"Just you and me tonight, huh?" she whispered.

_Maybe Shane has a Suicune trading card I could borrow…_

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN: Well, I hope y'all had happy Halloweens. It was yesterday right? Or is it today? I dunno. Sorry for not responding to earlier reviews, as I spent literally all my available time writing this. Exhaustion might also explain if it's a bit... weird. This is a mostly dialogue/character development-based chap (no, really?), and there will be similar ones here and there. I added a recap in the beginning so I won't have to do too many long exposition scenes in the future.**_

_**Also, the Document Manager seems to suck again, so formatting errors may still be found in this chapter. F$k!  
><strong>_

_**In case I forget, big thanks to drewbie, Alternate Lopunnu, Rogue Krayt Dragon, Antauri's Shadow and Jaxin for the reviews, plus also additional thanks to DarkSoulMan and Escaladeus for favoriting.  
><strong>_

_**Coming up next: Chapter Twelve - 'S.S. Neptune', where Kris and the group infiltrate the battleship, discover more familiar faces and get injured in many ways, while the plot thickens. Yeah.  
><strong>_


	12. SS Neptune

**Chapter Twelve: S.S. Neptune**

_**Location: Vermilion Harbor, Vermilion City, Kanto  
>December 11<strong>__**th**__**, 9:30 a.m. **_

The group, currently consisting of Kris, Wes, Shane, Leaf, Silver and Fernando, walked along the piers in the Vermilion Harbor. The air was fresh, the Wingull were flying around, screeching randomly, and the jolly sailors were brawling amongst each other and comparing their muscles… but in a totally non-gay way. Honest!

As they walked past the fishing boats and luxury yachts, they drew some attention as they had changed their civilian clothes to unfitting sailor suits - especially Kris and Shane had to wear oversized clothes with sleeves that were too long, while Fernando's clothes were _way_ too small for him, without leaving much to the imagination. The uniforms were unisex, with white shirts, white bell-bottomed trousers, blue jean collars and white Dixie cup hats.

Kris was also still holding the suitcase she got from Palmer, having handcuffed it to her hand.

"When they said 'sailor suits', I wasn't thinking about this," Wes grumbled. "It feels like the whole world is laughing at me right now!"

"What _did_ you think about, then?" Kris asked.

_I hope he doesn't mean what I think he means…_

"Well, the ones you see in those Japanese cartoons and stuff," Wes said. "I bet it would look nice on you, Kris."

"But then _you_ would have to wear one, too," Kris reminded.

Wes looked horrified by that remark.

"As an officer and a gentleman," Fernando announced, tapping an imaginary medal that he had pinned to his chest, "I can carry that suitcase for you."

"NO, THEY'RE MINE!" Kris screamed, then realized how suspicious it sounded. "I mean, uh… no, _thank you_. It's not even heavy… ow, my hand…"

"Sheesh, Kris," Shane muttered in a concerned tone, "you look pretty horrible, if you don't mind me saying."

"More than usual, amirite fellas?" Fernando laughed.

No one bothered to answer him.

But it was true: Kris was even paler than usual and had dark circles around her eyes. She also kept rubbing her eyes every few minutes, though she constantly insisted that she was fine.

"You're probably…" Kris paused to yawn before answering, "…imagining it," she finished drowsily. "I'm fine."

But if anything, Fernando's comment just made her more suspicious. After the group started walking along a more narrow pier, Fernando had to walk behind everyone. As Leaf and Silver were trying to avoid eye contact with one another and Shane was just being oblivious to everything as always, Kris tapped Wes on the shoulder.

"AH!" Wes cried, though quickly covered up his frightened yip. "I mean, um… argh! I mean, what's up, Kris?"

"Quiet," Kris whispered, looking behind her to make sure Fernando wouldn't hear. "Listen, I've got a bad feeling about that Fernando guy…"

This did not surprise Wes. "…and?"

"_And_," Kris said, trying her best not to raise her voice. "I know you have the attention span of a Goldeen, but seriously, Wes: Fernando is working for Palmer."

"And we're…?" Wes asked.

"Working _with _him," Kris clarified. "All the difference in the world. Anyway, the point is that you gotta watch out for him. I know he and Palmer are just looking for an opportunity to stab us in the back."

"Us?" Wes repeated, trying to hide his enthusiasm. Sure, she probably meant as in 'us vs. them', not 'you and me', but it still made Wes grin. He started fondling his revolver. "I'm with ya, Kris," he said and winked. "If that Fernando ever tries anything funny… BANG!"

"Quiet!" Kris shushed.

After walking past endless rows of fishing boats and yachts, the group finally found what they were looking for: the S.S. _Neptune_.

The blue-and-white colored battleship disguised as an ocean liner was resting in dock, the massive ship towering above all the other vessels in the port. Its main battery was hidden somewhere and the crew were all dressed in civilian outfits, just to avoid any suspicion. Of course, since battleships weren't even used anymore, no one would even begin to suspect anything about the luxurious-looking _Neptune._

A group of sailors were standing line, ready to board the ship, though all of them were checked and questioned by a very intimidating-looking, muscular sailor who was accompanied by a Poliwrath that was flexing its muscles and doing what it did best: looking threatening.

"Next!" the sailor would yell as the new recruits stepped into the ship by walking up a drawbridge-like plank.

There were only a few sailors left in the line, however, so the ship was about to set sail soon.

"I hope Palmer's done his job," Kris muttered. "Someone needs to go in first."

"Yeah," Shane said, nervously eyeing the sailor and the Poliwrath, "but who? I would, but… I don't want to."

"Why don't you and Shrew test if Palmer did his job," Kris suggested. "Then the rest of us will figure out who goes first."

"Deal!" Shane exclaimed enthusiastically and picked up his Sandshrew.

Due to Shane's demands, Palmer had to arrange for specially-made sailor clothes for Shrew as well: namely, Shrew was also wearing a Dixie cup and a blue collar fitted to its size.

Carrying a duffel bag containing his stuff and having Shrew sit on his shoulders, Shane casually walked over to the Poliwrath-owning sailor. The other five stayed in a distance, but close enough to hear what Shane and the sailor talked about.

"Name?" the sailor asked in an 'I-hate-my-job'-kind of way.

"Uh… Shane Stephens," Shane announced and saluted the sailor with his free hand. "Here to… report on duty… maybe… but, you know, if my name's not on that lil' list of yours, then I can just leave… whatever. But, uh, I _am _a sailor. Just look at my clothes. What, did you think I bought these just so I could infiltrate your ship's crew or something? Hah, that would be crazy!"

The sound of Kris, Wes, Leaf, Silver and Fernando slapping their foreheads in annoyance was heard.

But the sailor didn't seem to care, as he just casually checked his list. Shane was sweating so badly that Shrew almost fell off his shoulders, while Kris started chewing on her again.

"…Shane Stephens?" the sailor repeated and stared at Shane from under his brow. Shane gulped and nodded nervously. "Hmm… okay, you're on the list. Go on."

Shane let out a sigh of relief, turned around and gave a thumbs up for the others. But as he tried to step into the ship, the sailor stopped him, looking at the Sandshrew on his shoulders.

"Hey, wait up, landlubber!" the sailor grunted. "How come your Pokémon isn't in its ball?"

Shane looked around him for a while before realizing what the sailor meant.

"What, this thing?" Shane asked and pointed at Shrew. "Heck, I lost its Poké Ball years ago. It just sorta tags along. What, do _you_ put _your _friends in little crowded capsules that violate the laws of physics?"

"…look, kid," the sailor said in an exasperated tone, "the crew is supposed to keep their Pokémon in balls until the security chief and the Captain do their inspections on you newbies. Is that clear?"

"Well I don't _have _a Poké Ball for it," Shane argued. "'Sides, Shrew won't cause trouble. It's just like me, you and any other sailor on your boat, except that it's only two feet tall and smells better."

"…fine," the sailor sighed. "Just don't come crying to me when the security chief roasts your ass. Next!"

"Sweet!" Shane exclaimed as he walked into the ship. "Semper fi, dude!"

"…what?"

Seeing how even someone like Shane could get past the sailor, Kris got a boost of confidence which allowed her go through as well.

"Name?" the sailor asked Kris.

"Kris Zimmerman," Kris replied. "We're the… reinforcements that you were supposed to get. All six of us, me, that blonde guy with the Sandshrew that just passed and those three guys and a chick standing behind me."

"Why are you carrying that suitcase around?" the sailor asked suspiciously.

Kris glanced at the suitcase still cuffed to her wrist. Even though the sailor most likely wouldn't know what the plates of origin were, Kris couldn't risk it. She had to keep them. They were hers, no one else's.

_Huh, I guess it is kinda suspicious_, Kris thought. _Okay, Kris. Convincing lie… convincing lie…convincing lie… and make it non-awkward one_!

"It contains my undergarments," Kris replied nonchalantly. "And no need to search the case! 'Cause when I say 'undergarments', I mean _dirty_, unwashed undergarments, all soaked in vile, unimaginable filth, menstrual blood and-"

"For Arceus' sake!" the sailor cried in panic, "You could have just said 'it's private'! What the hell is wrong with you? Just, climb aboard already! But don't say I didn't warn you about the suitcase… I wouldn't want to piss off our security chief if I were you. Mr. Blaine isn't exactly as lenient as me!"

_Smooth, Kris. Real smooth_.

"Hang on, did you say 'Mr. Blaine'?" Kris asked curiously.

"When was the last time you used a q-tip?" the sailor asked. "Yes, I said that. Next!"

_Must be a coincidence_, Kris thought as she followed Shane up the plank.

Wes, Leaf, Silver and Fernando were able to get on board without any notable incidents. Of course, the sailor wondered why Wes carried revolvers on his belt, why Fernando was wearing a domino mask and why Leaf started babbling to him how his Poliwrath was underfed. Silver was just his usual self, muttering his own name to the sailor while looking elsewhere. Surprisingly, even though Silver had been a wanted criminal in his past, even he got past the sailor with no problems.

As Kris and the gang were the last ones aboard, the Neptune was ready to take off. The group watched it slowly drifting away from the docks. Vermilion City was quickly left behind as the ship headed towards the Cycling Road Bridge. After crossing that, it would reach the open sea and the international waters.

The gang gathered on the deck, together with about a dozen or so new sailors. Kris took a deep breath, enjoying the cold, crisp sea air and listening to the cries of the Wingull and Pelipper flying around. It was a pleasant change of pace after all the horrors the group had encountered in such a short time. Domino's electric torture, Cipher, the Grimer coming from sewer pipes, the hospital takeover, the Genesect and the mindf#$k at the lake… now that the infiltration to the ship had gone off without a hitch, Kris and the group just had to keep up the façade and wait their orders.

_Unless this security chief is who I think he is_…

Suddenly, interrupting Kris' thoughts, all the newbie sailors saluted someone, so Kris and the group followed suit. Someone, presumably the security chief, had appeared on the deck. Kris was too short to see over the heads and sailor hats of the recruits, so he didn't see who was talking:

"Welcome aboard," said the man in a raspy yet very powerful voice. "I'm Blaine, in charge of the ship's security. You'll be briefed by the captain after some… preparations. Nothing major, but we can't let the ship being overrun by agents of the Man… damn if he's always keeping us down! After a cavity search, blood sample, x-ray check and a Rorschach inkblot test, you should be clear. And remember: it's not that the ship doesn't trust you, but… ah, screw it, we don't trust you. Get used to it, newbies!"

Kris tiptoed, and though it was hard, she finally caught a glimpse of the security chief.

It was the same Blaine, all right. Notably, he wasn't wearing a uniform, but still preferred to wear a labcoat over a suit. He was tall, fit for his age and completely bald, though he had a recognizable white moustache. He also wore sunglasses day and night - Kris had never seen his face without them.

Back at Extranormal Operations, Blaine was one of the science team members. Due to his naturally paranoid and easily irritable nature, he was also made the base's security chief. Apparently, he liked the job even more than his earlier career as a geneticist and Cinnabar Island's gym leader.

Kris and Leaf gave each other glances, Leaf silently mouthing '_what's he doing here'_, which Kris could only shrug at. Even Silver allowed himself to look puzzled, while Shane was visibly struggling to remember where he remembered Blaine.

_Oh, crud on a stick! Please don't recognize us… our cover will be blown…_

"Hey! Blaine!" Shane suddenly yelled out.

_Shane, for the remainder of our lives, I'm going to kill you until we die!_

"Blaine!" Shane yelled, causing all the sailors to turn around and look at him in confusion. "Don't you remember us? What are you doing here?"

Blaine didn't waste time reacting. The moment he recognized Shane's voice, he grabbed a Poké Ball from his pocket and opened it. Out came a Magmar, a humanoid, scaled fire-type Pokémon that seemed to be constantly on fire. While Magmar prepared to attack, all the sailors in the group scattered away and Blaine pulled out a shotgun. As he always had a thing for the dramatic, Blaine cocked the shotgun before starting to talk:

"You!" Blaine shouted. "How did you get here?"

"…from the harbor?" Shane suggested. "Wait, was that a trick question… gah! You and your riddles, Blaine!"

"Okay, you lost me," Wes muttered. "Do you know this guy?"

"Afraid so," Kris sighed. "Oh, well, the entire operation is a bust, then. Well, now that our covers were blown, can we go see the captain?"

Blaine kept his shotgun pointed at the group while Magmar was ready to burn them all to a crisp. One by one, the group lifted their hands up. Kris briefly thought about using her Pokétch, perhaps dousing the Magmar with a Water Gun, but when surrounded by Blaine and about twelve sailors, perhaps it wasn't such a good idea.

"The six of you, start walking," Blaine ordered. "I have no idea what's going on here, but you're going to the bridge. The captain will decide what to do with you. I wouldn't want to be in your shoes…"

Resigned to their fates, Kris, Wes, Shane, Leaf, Silver and Fernando walked to the direction where Blaine was pointing with his shotgun. Shrew was still sitting on Shane's shoulders, swaying back and forth as Shane walked.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: The bridge, S.S. Neptune**_

The _Neptune's_ bridge was a large, square-shaped room with windows on every wall, allowing a 360-degree vision around the ship. There were workstations all over the place, mostly computers and hi-tech gadgets surrounded by technician-wearing headphones. At the front of the bridge there was the helmsman, a middle-aged, balding man in a sailor suit like the others. And in the middle of the bridge, sitting on a comfortable-looking, elevated chair was the captain himself. The captain's back was turned on the group, so they couldn't see anything but his hat and his hairy neck.

"Captain Briney!" Blaine yelled when he and the prisoners arrived to the bridge. "You need to see this, sir. I may have captured six enemy spies that attempted to infiltrate our crew. They arrived with the new recruits. Probably just one of those government tricks, that-"

"Blaine, we're working _for _the government," the captain remarked lazily from his chair. "They don't have much to gain by spying on us. Plus, remember that Tentacool that got washed up on the deck? You thought it was an enemy spy in disguise and interrogated it for hours!"

"That was a tough one," Blaine reminisced with a psychotic smirk on his face. "No matter how much pressure I put on him, he just wouldn't break…"

"Yeah, because it _didn't have a mouth_!" Briney snarled. "But if you think this is important enough for me to actually stand up and turn around… fine."

Captain Briney pulled himself up with visible trouble and turned around to face the group, finally allowing Kris to get a good look of him. He was old, probably in his 70's already, with a completely bald head but a bushy white beard. Despite his wrinkly appearance, he seemed to be in very good shape. His uniform was different from the others, as he boasted a long captain's jacket and a big, fancy hat, and had so many medals strapped on his chest that Kris was surprised that their weight didn't make him fall flat on his face.

Briney knit his brows while looking at the imprisoned group for a while, then glanced at Blaine.

"…and?" he asked. "Am I supposed to recognize them as spies just by _looking _at them? This is your specialty, Blaine, not mine!"

"Four of them used to work for Extranormal Operations," Blaine said, pulling Kris, Shane, Leaf and Silver aside. "These guys! Hardly a coincidence, don't you think?"

"I don't know what you're talking about, gentlemen," Kris said smarmily - fighting wouldn't do much good in this situation: "We're merely humble sea… people, hoping to grab a treasure and keep the scurvy away, and… things like that."

Captain Briney started pacing back and forward in front of the group, walking very lightly and casually despite his age. Judging by the scars on his face and hands, this guy had seen a lot of battles.

"So," Briney said, "you want to do the talking, miss…"

"The name's Kris, sir," Kris replied as politely as she could muster. "It's an honor to be working under a legendary seadog like yourself!"

"Okay, name _one _battle that I've participated in," Briney said.

"Uh…" Kris had to think, but since she actually couldn't care less about anything that didn't concern herself, she was at loss of words. "Err… that thing where you told sailors to bomb the hell out of an enemy boat?"

"Lucky guess," Briney grunted. "All right, _Kris_. Is what Blaine saying accurate? Were you really working for Extranormal Operations?"

"I…" Kris had to seek wordless help from Leaf, who nodded subtly. _Well, I guess it's Blaine's word against ours…_"Yes, that part was true," Kris admitted. "But, hey, since the organization was disbanded, we needed to look for some work. Can't live on Pokéblocks alone, eh?"

"Now I know you're being delirious, Kris," Shane said. "Have you ever even tried?"

Blaine smacked the back of Shane's head. "Quiet, boy," he snarled.

"Yes, _thank you_, Blaine," Briney said. "All right… Blaine here used to work for them too. He claims that all personnel were rounded up, interrogated and reassigned. Most of them were sent to work here on this ship."

"Yeah, that's right!" Blaine growled. "And I don't recall seeing the four of _you_there! And who are these jokers?" Blaine wondered, pointing at Wes and Fernando who stood awkwardly on the background, as if they had just walked into a movie theatre in the middle of the film.

"I'll explain it later," Kris said. "Honestly, we just want to work here! Okay, I don't know whether starboard is left or right, but I'm a quick learner!"

Briney didn't have time to respond, though. A bird flew in through the door that Blaine and the group had used - on closer inspection, it turned out to be a Wingull that was carrying a piece of paper on its beak. It landed gracefully on Captain Briney's shoulder and dropped the paper on the palm of his hand.

"Thanks, Peeko," Briney said and read the note. "Hmm… all right, then. Blaine, I'm needed in the lab."

"Shall I… _interrogate_ them?" Blaine asked in a way that made Kris shudder.

"You enjoy that _way_ too much," Briney said. "No, the XO will take over from here. COMMANDER WHITE!" Briney yelled suddenly, making everyone in the room flinch. _Sheesh, what a voice_, Kris thought.

_Hang on… Commander White?_

And then another familiar face walked into the scene, and seeing her made Kris groan loudly. Blaine was bad enough, but now they were greeted by none other than Touko Hilda White, former drill instructor back at Extranormal Operations. She was probably a head taller than Kris and had blue eyes and long, curly brown hair. Most noticeably, she wasn't wearing the same uniform as everyone else, but still preferred the same old tomboyish clothing: a white cap with a Poké Ball logo on it, a white top, a black vest and blue, ultra-short shorts made from cut-off jeans.

_I bet they just couldn't force her to wear a uniform_…

Touko marched up to the captain, cockily and with great discipline. She didn't even notice Kris or the others as she saluted Briney.

"Sir!" she said.

"At ease, Touko," Briney said. "Seeing as you're my Number Two… or Number One… or whatever… you need to interrogate a few potential spies for me. I have something more important to do."

"Yes, sir!" Touko said and saluted again.

Briney walked past Blaine and the prisoners and headed to the stairs, away from the bridge.

Touko, on the other hand, folded her arms before confidently turning to face the group. She opened her mouth to say something that was undoubtedly 'badass', not to mention vulgar, but her eyes widened and her jaw dropped when she saw who the 'potential spies' were.

"You!" she said, being as observant as ever. "But… how… Blaine? Seriously?"

Blaine just shrugged.

Touko squinted and stared directly at Kris, making her uncomfortable and wish that she actually _was_ interrogated by Blaine

"The hell are _you _doing here?" Touko asked bluntly. "You quit work at ENO and just disappeared!"

"Didn't _you _quit, too?" Kris asked, being just as confused as Touko was. "Also, seriously, White… your middle name is '_Hilda_'? Seriously?"

Wes didn't seem to care about the name, though, as he whistled appreciatively as he observed Touko from head to toe, obviously making Touko wonder what the hell his problem was. Wes' eyes seemed to linger in Touko's strategic areas before he eventually made eye contact with her.

"Enchanté, Miss, uh… White!" Wes said, then lowered his voice when he talked to Kris. "Leave this to me, Krissy. I know how to handle her!"

"That's a bad idea," Kris whispered to Wes. "But unless you _want_ to get your ass handed to you…"

Either Wes hadn't listened to Kris' advice, or he just didn't think anyone could beat him, so he confidently strutted over to Touko and grinned at her, resembling one of those creepy old men who stalked 18-year old girls at bars.

"So, you're the second-in-command around this boat," Wes said in a pathetic attempt to make small-talk. "You're out of uniform, I see. Such a shame… would have been quite an experience to see you in a sailor suit… uh, I mean, with the body you have…"

Kris resisted the urge to do a facepalm. _Is _this_ one of Wes' charming tactics?_

"Thanks, but I know that already," Touko replied casually. "And I tried out the uniform for a while, but it just didn't go with my style, you know."

"Oh, I do," Wes said anxiously, sweating all over. "Hey, in case you're not busy, could you-"

But Wes was interrupted when Touko grabbed him by the neck and kneed him in the stomach. Wes fell on his knees, gasping for breath and muttering unintelligibly. Touko just stood there nonchalantly, trying to hear what Wes had to say.

"Could I what?" she asked, as if she had not hit Wes with her knee. "Hm? Oh, you have nothing more to say? Good. Get this guy outta my sight!"

Blaine had to pull Wes back on his feet and drag him back to the others. As he did so, Touko looked over the others. She seemed to ignore Fernando and frowned at Kris, but was a bit more cordial to the others.

"Aww, well if it isn't Shane!" Touko said in a mock-happy tone upon seeing the guy. "You know, you were always my favorite. Looking at you, people can always get the feeling that they could do worse in their lives!"

"Hey, thanks!" Shane said and smiled enthusiastically.

Touko then glanced at Leaf and Silver, who were once again standing closer to each other than was necessary.

"Ah, so you two finally worked things out, huh?" Touko asked. "Or are you still going over your endless 'we-wuv-each-other-but-are-too-stupid-to-realize it'-routine, forcing others to listen to your relationship crap, not to mention the ton of daddy issues, trust issues and whatever other issues you two might have?"

"Yeah, because you were totally much better than that," Silver deadpanned. "Except for all that 'boo-hoo-they-turned-my-boyfriend-into-a-soulless automaton'-whining. And the hellish training. No, I'm not bitter."

Touko looked at Blaine, who was clearly eager to do something potentially violent to the prisoners - in the name of scientific curiosity, of course.

"This can't be a coincidence," Touko said to him. "But I just… don't know what else it could be… bah, it ain't my job to think! Just put them in the cell."

"You mean the brig?" Blaine asked.

"Yeah, that thing," Touko replied, showing her competence as a ship's XO. "It's one floor above the cargo holds, right?"

"One _deck_ above," Blaine corrected.

"…are you being an ass on purpose?" Touko asked. "Wait… don't answer that. Just do it!"

"Aye aye, ma'am," Blaine said, albeit not without sarcasm. "C'mon boys!"

Instead of more burly sailors, the group was greeted with the sight of two large Machoke, both wearing Dixie cups and blue collars to look like they were in the Navy. But before they started to drag Kris away, Kris wriggled herself free from the Machoke's grip and pointed her Pokétch at Touko.

"Whoa!" Blaine yelled and quickly readied his shotgun. "I forgot that she had that!"

"Me too," Touko muttered and stared back at Kris, not even trying to move out of the way. "All right, Kris, whaddya want?"

"Just give us a chance to explain," Kris pleaded. "Or I swear that I'm going to start firing this thing randomly and you need to throw my cold dead body overboard before I give up!"

Touko sighed in annoyance. "Did you hear what the captain called me?" she asked. "I'm _Commander_ White. I don't have to listen to your load of Tauros!"

"We'll have a Pokémon battle," Kris said desperately, using her last resort. "One-on-one! If you win, we surrender. If I win, you'll allow us to waltz around the ship, freely!"

"Kris," Leaf said quietly, "I don't think that's a good-"

"All right," Touko agreed and shrugged. "Not that I'm busy trying to be the Executive Officer here, but whatever. Let's head to the… the thing in the front of the ship, everyone!"

"The bow," Blaine corrected. "Really, Touko, what did you to do that cheat sheet I gave ya?"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: The bow, one deck below the bridge, S.S. Neptune**_

"Touko versus Kris," Silver observed. "Wish I had popcorn for this…"

It didn't take long for the deck to be cleared of all obstacles, and the entire bow section was transformed into a battlefield for Kris and Touko. That didn't stop an enthusiastic group of spectators from quitting their work and gathering around them to watch the battle, most of them cheering on for Touko and chanting her name. Not that being unpopular was anything new to Kris, so this didn't bother her.

Kris and Touko just stared at each other, Touko shifting the Poké Ball from one hand to another, while Kris was holding her own Poké Ball close to her mouth, whispering some last minute advice to Croc. There was a distance of about ten yards between the battlers, allowing them to taunt each other if necessary.

Wes broke free from the crowd and walked to Kris, a look of concern of his face.

"You sure you're ready for this?" Wes whispered to Kris. "That chick is-"

"-crazier than an Arbok's armpit," Kris said. "I know. But… it's personal. I sort of hate her."

"So what?" Wes hissed. "No need to drag the rest of us with ya, Krissy! We could have just let them throw us to the brig, we coulda found a way outta there and…"

"…and what?" Kris asked. "Look over there!"

Kris pointed to the horizon. Touko was standing with her back against it, but the _Neptune_ would go below the Cycling Road bridge any minute now. After that, it was the open sea, with no means of escaping from the ship.

"Until we're at Whirl Islands, there's nowhere to go," Kris muttered to Wes. "When we get there… we'll just figure something out. And when I win, we can go around doing whatever we want, anyway!"

"…_when _you win?" Wes asked. "That's awfully confident of you. I mean, seriously, it's cool that you are, but you gotta have a backup plan for this-"

"Listen!" Kris interrupted. "I know Touko. She hates Pokémon. Whatever she has in that Poké Ball, she hasn't owned it for long. Back when she was at ENO with us, she used her Pokétch powers almost exclusively. While _I_ have had Croc for years. No way I can lose!"

Wes just grumbled something, but Kris pushed him away, forcing Wes to retreat back to the other spectators. The sailors were having wagers amongst themselves, or were trying to have, as no one sane was willing to bet for Kris.

Eventually, the spectators stopped chanting and hollering when Touko raised her hand.

"Ready for this?" she asked.

Kris nodded.

"_Go_!" the two women yelled in unison.

Kris threw her own Poké Ball into the arena first and her trusty Feraligatr came out, ready to sink its teeth and claws on anything that was stupid enough to get in its way. The sailors started cheering when the Feraligatr came out of its ball, trusting the fight to last long.

Then Touko threw her Poké Ball, and out came a Pokémon Kris remembered seeing only once before. The Pokémon was mostly blue and walked on four legs, resembling a sea lion, with long white whiskers and a golden helmet covering its head. The helmet had spikes and a big spear on the forehead, acting as the Pokémon's "horn". Instead of a tail, it had a sort of a fin. Most noticeably, it had two scabbards in its forelegs, with a golden sword inside each one.

_That Pokémon is badass_, Kris thought whilst scanning the thing quickly with the PokéDex built within her Pokétch. _That has to be a water-type, but that's all I can figure…_

"_Samurott, the Formidable Pokémon,_" the PokéDex informed,_ "and the evolved form of Dewott. Part of the armor on its anterior legs becomes a sword, which can incapacitate the opponent with a single swing. A simple glare or a cry from this Pokémon can intimidate almost every enemy._"

_Samurott, huh. I'll need more than that info to beat it, though…_ "Nice… thingy, Touko," Kris complimented. "Where'd you get it?"

Touko didn't respond. "Samurott, Megahorn!" she ordered.

The Samurott's horn started glowing bright white as it started charging towards Kris' Feraligatr. Croc attempted to dodge the Samurott, but couldn't run very far as the horn eventually struck Croc and injured it.

"Croc, Slash!" Kris ordered.

Croc swung the Samurott with its claws, but only injured itself as it hit Samurott's armor instead. Croc let out a wail and cradled its injured hand, allowing Samurott to tackle it to the ground.

_This match is not gonna last long_, Kris thought. _Crap! Why did I even go along with this? Water- and Ice-attacks won't work… _

"Croc, get up!" Kris ordered, trying to boost the Feraligatr's confidence. "Earthquake!"

"Samurott, Detect!" Touko retaliated at the exact same time.

Croc stomped the deck of the _Neptune_ as hard as it could, knocking many spectators off their feet. But Samurott's eyes suddenly glowed blue and it instantly jumped out of the shockwave's way, being very agile for a Pokémon of its size.

Then Kris had an idea. "Get close to it, Croc!" she ordered. "Then hit it with Ice Beam!"

Croc didn't have any idea what Kris was planning, but loyally obeyed its master's orders as it charged towards Samurott. The Samurott was faster, so it leaped out of the way, but now its back was against the edge of the ship, and it had no place to go. Croc opened its mouth and blasted Samurott with an Ice Beam.

"Block it!" Touko ordered quickly.

Samurott went down on its belly, being as flat as it could, and turned its armor towards Croc. The ice beam bounced off the Samurott's helmet, but this didn't seem to bother Kris.

"Dynamicpunch!" Kris ordered.

With its forehead sticking towards Croc, Samurott couldn't move anywhere as Croc landed a powerful punch on the Samurott's exposed side, sending it flying a few feet backwards. Somehow, it was still able to stand, though both it and Croc were getting exhausted.

"Time to put an end to this!" Touko ordered, still full of confidence despite her Pokémon's exhaustion. "Samurott, Hydro Cannon!"

_Hah! I got her now! She's so desperate she's using water-type attacks on a water-type Pokémon! What a tool._

"Just use Dynamicpunch again!" Kris told to Croc, certain of her victory. "Punch through the attack or something!"

Croc nodded, while Samurott opened its mouth and prepared to launch a powerful, blue, spherical projectile made entirely out of water. Croc just prepared itself and was ready to block the attack.

But something was wrong. The orb near Samurott's mouth that got bigger and bigger. Kris had never seen her Feraligatr being able to do anything like that. Finally, when the orb basically blocked Samurott itself from sight and was bigger than Croc itself, Samurott launched it towards Croc.

"Wait!" Kris screamed. "Croc, get out of the w-"

Kris was too slow, as the sphere was quick to hit Croc in the face. It couldn't do anything about the attack as the water hit it with incredible pressure, knocking the Pokémon on its back. Spectators had to jump out of the way as the whole deck became soaked by Samurott's attack. Water rained all over the place and Croc started coughing and hacking, taken completely surprise by the force of the attack.

And so was Kris. _Huh… and here I thought it wasn't going to be very effective…_

"Now, Slash!" Touko ordered.

As if Croc hadn't gotten enough punishment, Samurott used its other "arm" to grab one its swords, unsheathing it. It charged at Croc, and when it was close enough, it stood on its hid legs and swung the sword at Croc.

The Feraligatr was so dazed by the Hydro Cannon that it couldn't dodge the attack, and Kris couldn't think of anything to say either. She just looked away as Samurott swung its sword, slashing Croc across the chest with it. Surprisingly, no Pokémon blood started pouring out, but Croc was instantly knocked out. Reluctantly, Kris returned it to its ball.

"You… did your best…" Kris whispered to the Poké Ball.

Touko returned her Samurott as well, though she didn't compliment it, just smirked victoriously. The _Neptune_ was just about to go under the Cycling Road bridge.

Kris thought about her promise to Touko… but surely, she didn't have to keep it? _Oh, the hell with it… honor is for idiots_!

Kris readied her Pokétch and aimed it at Touko, but somehow, Touko seemed to anticipate this. Her own Pokétch started glowing, and somehow she leaped out of the way of Kris' Ice Beam with incredible speed. Then, she somehow jumped on top of the ship's bridge, climbed the antenna on top of it and jumped again…

The _Neptune_ was now directly below the Cycling Road, and Touko had vanished somewhere. Everyone just stared silently, waiting for the ship to go past the road bridge.

When it finally passed, Kris saw Touko again. She had jumped on the Cycling Road, and now jumped right back on top of the _Neptune_. Kris tried to fire the Pokétch at her, but Touko moved at an incredible speed, dodging her attacks with ease. Kris eventually lost sight of her.

"Where did s- oof!"

Touko was suddenly directly above her, right out of the blue. Touko landed painfully on Kris, pinning Kris to the ground and twisting her arms behind her back.

"Didn't we have an agreement?" Touko asked. "I guess I shouldn't expect you to fight fair, but still… either way, one hell of a battle. Blaine!" she yelled. "Escort Kris and her friends to the brig!"

Everyone in the crowd was awestruck by Touko's impossible acrobatics display, but eventually Blaine got himself together and nervously nodded at Touko. He tried to avoid slipping as he walked past the puddles of water caused by the Samurott's attack, then pulled Kris on her feet. The two Machoke dragged away the rest of the group, who didn't resist at all.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: The holds, S.S. Neptune**_

After several sets of stairs and an elevator ride, Blaine and the two Machoke were escorting the six prisoners in a narrow corridor, delivering them towards the 'brig', which was actually just a small, windowless room at the lower decks. Devastated by her loss, Kris had just stared at the floor the entire time. The others listened to an announcement through the loudspeakers, hearing Captain Briney's powerful voice:

"_Attention personnel: Route 17 Bridge checkpoint passed_," Briney announced. "_We're now at the open seas. Estimated time for arrival to the Whirl Islands: five hours and forty-five minutes_."

"Five hours?" Leaf asked. "But that's… well, I don't know how many miles do we have left until we reach Johto but seriously… we shouldn't be there until tomorrow!"

"This thing is fast," Blaine grunted. "Oh, turn left here. Now, I don't know what your game is, but I just obey orders. If the captain and White want you taken to the brig, then that's what I'll do. If it were up to me, I'd keelhaul one of you to get you to talk, but… meh."

"Man, that Touko was something else," Wes sighed dreamily, before feeling guilty and glancing Kris. "Uh, no offense, Krissy. But did you see how she just _jumped_ on the bridge and then _jumped_ right back on Kris? I didn't even get a clear idea of _what_ happened exactly, but it was _awesome_!"

"Well, obviously we saw it," Silver said. "We were there."

"Yeah, she's all right," Blaine growled. "Turn right! I'm sure the captain wants to talk to you before we get to the Whirl Islands, so don't get too comfy in there! Let's see… should be at the end of _this_hallway… probably the fifth door on the left… or was it right?"

"What's the captain like?" Shane asked, visibly strained for having to carry Shrew in his arms.

"Briney?" Blaine asked, sounding pretty casual even though he was holding the group at gunpoint. "To tell you the truth… no matter how insane or crude Touko might feel, I'd rather have her as the captain. Briney was in the war, and he can't shut up about how things were better back in the 'day', whenever that was. And the guy is _brutal_. During the war, he didn't have enemies to torture, seeing as they were all Pokémon, so he had to take his anger out on any member of his crew who happened to slack off. Sleeping late meant you'd probably be walking down the plank before breakfast. They say Briney used to throw meat in the ocean to attract some Sharpedo, then throw a guy overboard just to show the others a lesson."

"A real father to his men…" Silver muttered.

"Yeah…" Blaine sighed. "They pulled him out of retirement for some reason, but the guy obviously isn't used to these modern vessels. And the idea of commanding respect is lost on him. He prefers to just shout until he gets his way. I don't think he even _wanted_to become captain, as he was just happy to live in his little shack with his Wingull…"

"So you think _Touko_ can command respect?" Leaf asked skeptically. "Touko 'Kick-em-in-the-crotch-until-they-surrender' White?"

"The crew seem to like her," Blaine said and shrugged. "A bit _too_ much. Really, I just don't get what all the drooling is about!"

"I do!" Wes exclaimed. "She's… well, never mind."

"I _meant_," Blaine snarled, "that they like her because she kicks lots of ass in battle, even though she never wanted to be a Pokémon trainer. Oh, stop here!"

The cell's door was made of steel and was incredibly thick. Blaine was carrying the group's Pokétches and C-Gears in a bag, so the group couldn't use them to try and break out. They were allowed to keep their Pokémon, though, as even they couldn't break through the door. Besides being reinforced, there was also an electronic lock that would sound an alarm immediately if it was broken. And even if they would get past the door, there were several sailors, along with some Machoke, Poliwhirl and Poliwrath patrolling the corridors, and the ship was in the middle of the ocean.

Blaine inserted a card key into the electronic lock, and the steel door slowly opened. The two Machoke pushed the group into the dark room one at a time.

"There are two prisoners in there already," Blaine told the group. "So try to get along and don't hog the bucket all to yourself. You'll be brought food and water twice a day, so try and share and all that. Oh, and finally-"

"_Chief Blaine_," blared the ship's PA system "_Chief Blaine, report to the bridge immediately. Captain Briney's orders_."

"…damn," Blaine groaned. "All right, you two!" he ordered the two Machoke, who saluted. "Guard this room and don't let anyone in or out, no matter what. I gotta jet!"

"Hold on," Wes said to Blaine before he stepped into the cell. "Could you get me that Touko chick's number while you're at the bridge?"

"No, sorry," Blaine said.

And to emphasize his point, he hit Wes in the stomach with his shotgun. Wes collapsed on the floor again, coughing, gasping for breath and wailing '_Why me_?'. Shane helped him on his feet and dragged him into the cell. The Machoke closed the cell's door, leaving the group trapped in complete darkness.

"Great!" Fernando yelled. "Nicely done, people, really, what a way to go! Our infiltration worked for, like, fifteen minutes!"

"Shut up, Fernando," Leaf said. "I'll get us some light… hold on…"

Despite the darkness, Leaf was able to remember which Poké Ball contained her Rapidash. She opened it, and the white horse with a fiery mane and tail appeared into the cell, illuminating it almost completely.

The cell's two inhabitants were sitting in opposite corners of the room, sleeping, despite all the noise. But Kris recognized both of them: they were obviously scientists, as they were wearing torn and dirty lab coats. The other scientist was younger, in his thirties, with short brown hair and round, crooked glasses. He was very tall and lanky. The other scientist was in his late 60's, and had grown a long white hair and a beard in captivity, but still seemed to be in better shape than the younger one. He was tall, but not thin, and still looked respectable and arrogant despite his wrinkles.

The younger one was Professor Elm. The older one was Professor Kaminko.

Kris was quick to ignore Kaminko, but rushed to Elm as soon as she recognized him. Elm had lived in New Bark Town, Kris' hometown, and was probably the only person there whom Kris could count on, being more of a father than Kris' own dad ever was. Unfortunately, Elm was the one who got (read: _forced_) Kris to join Extranormal Operations, since Elm was a part of its staff. Though Elm meant well, as he knew that Kris didn't have a job and had been kicked out of Earl Dervish's Pokémon Academy, he didn't seem to realize that once Kris joined, she didn't have the chance to quit.

Despite this and some other bad blood, Kris was willing to help the professor to stand on his feet. Elm opened his eyes when Kris shook him, and had to blink for a while and rub his eyes in disbelief when Kris stared right at his pale, dirty face.

"…Kris?" Elm mumbled. "My word! Kaminko! Wake up! I think we finally died!"

Professor Kaminko, the former administrator at Extranormal Operations simply mumbled something and went back to sleep. Kris felt like strangling him to death, but decided to postpone that activity. It was Kaminko who founded the organization and came up with the plan of attacking legendary Pokémon and stealing their essences or whatever. Kaminko was one of those people who fully believed in their own superiority, and even when imprisoned, Kaminko refused to engage in small-talk with his former subordinate.

"…puh-please, t-tell me, dear girl," Elm stuttered. "Uh… what year is this? Did the ship sink? Or did they just forget to give us any food?"

"You're still alive… barely," Kris said reassuringly. "Why are you locked up in here? I heard all members of the staff were reassigned to this ship."

"Almost all," Elm explained. "Unfortunately, the administrative staff wasn't so lucky. The Committee needed a scapegoat."

Kaminko scoffed from the corner, but everyone ignored him.

"Explain," Kris said.

Elm dusted his lab coat and adjusted his glasses nervously. He looked around the room, smiling at Leaf, Silver and Shane and being slightly confused by the presence of Wes and Fernando.

"I'll make the introductions later," Kris said hastily. "Well?"

"Well," Elm said and immediately started talking in a lecturing, nasal tone, "_professor_ Kaminko here decided that instead of giving the cores of the legendary Pokémon to the Committee, we should keep them to ourselves. Or, more accurately, _he _should keep them to himself. His plan went down the drain when Cheren Black decided to blow up our base."

Kaminko didn't even pretend to be sleeping anymore. He just folded his arms and sat in the corner, this time pretending that he wasn't listening. Kris couldn't be happier to see that elitist schmuck getting what he deserved, and seeing the once-powerful Kaminko sitting in a cell all malnourished and filthy was just what Kris needed to make her day better.

"So, we destroyed all of our research," Elm continued, "and evacuated. I tried to bring Blaine with me, but Kaminko insisted that there was no time. I just couldn't live with the guilt, however… knowing about all the experiments we had conducted… I had to alert the authorities."

"Why?" Silver wondered. "You _did_ realize that you would be locked up too?"

Elm tried to smile, but looked almost like had had forgotten how to do it. "Yes, well…" he muttered and adjusted his glasses again. "I didn't have much of a choice. It was either that, or let Kaminko get away with everything he had done."

"Indeed," Kaminko remarked.

Professor Kaminko got on his feet, somehow coming up with the strength to look down on all the others and stare at Elm with seething hatred.

"I try my best to advance our species," Kaminko said. "I dedicate my life to the research that could save us all from extinction, and what do I get? I get thrown in a cell with this young, sniveling, '_idealistic_' twit." He added some extra emphasis on 'idealistic', saying it as snidely as he could.

"So why weren't you just placed in a regular prison?" Kris wondered, talking to Elm and ignoring Kaminko's outburst. "Why the _Neptune_?"

"I have no idea," Elm said helplessly. "Maybe… this is some kind of maximum security prison?"

"Open your eyes, Elm!" Kaminko yelled. "The Committee built this using _our _research and filled the crew with _our_ personnel! They brought us here for a reason, and it doesn't look like they just want to execute us in front of everyone! You, Dr. Greene!" Kaminko yelled suddenly, pointing at Leaf who retreated in fear.

"Um… y-yes?" Leaf asked.

"Did they confiscate your C-Gear upon your arrival?" Kaminko asked, and Leaf nodded nervously. "Of course… I also had one on me when I came in, but the security here is much tighter than in the jail cells of Goldenrod's police station. Now that they have both of them, they are going to need _my_ physiological data to access all those files…"

"Oh!" Kris exclaimed and turned to Elm again. "Do you know Blaine is working here, too?"

Elm sighed wearily and sat down again, looking even miserable than before. "Yes, I do. Unfortunately, he doesn't know that _I'm_ here. They must be deliberately keeping him in the dark to make him complacent. He's in his element, I guess, doing what he does best…"

"I'm shocked they didn't put him in the lab," Kaminko muttered. "The man has his flaws, quite a lot of them, in fact, but he was talented in the field of genetics, that's for sure…"

Wes, who had recovered from Blaine's and Touko's attacks on his stomach, seemed to be slowly understanding what the situation was.

"Okay," Wes said and stepped into the middle of the room so everyone could see him, though he was specifically looking at Elm and Kaminko. "Maybe one of you poindexters could enlighten me a bit… what's this about Touko's boyfriend I've been hearin'. Y'know, something about 'soulless automatons' or something like that…"

Kris and Shane also seemed interested, as they hadn't really gotten the whole story - all they knew was that Touko's boyfriend, Touya, had been experimented on. Leaf and Silver exchanged nervous looks while Elm adjusted his glasses again. Kaminko didn't seem to react at all, acting like Wes was just spewing noise that he didn't need to care about.

"…well," Elm said and wrung his hands. He walked around anxiously and avoided eye contact with everyone. "That's one of those 'experiments' I mentioned… you would have to ask Blaine for the full story, since he was in charge of the project, but…"

"But what?" Kris asked.

"I… helped," Elm admitted as he hung his head in shame. "Here's the full story-"

"It was a real nice secret project we had once," Kaminko muttered to himself.

"Touko and her boyfriend, Touya Hilbert Noir, the young lovers, as we called them, were sent on a mission," Elm explained. "Only Touko returned, covered in Touya's blood. The operation didn't go _quite_ as planned. We recovered Touya's body. Technically speaking, he wasn't _quite _dead, so professor Kaminko had an…" Elm paused to take a deep, shuddering breath. "…an idea."

"Blaine was originally hired to reconstruct an ancient Pokémon called Genesect," Elm continued. "By the time we recovered Touya, Genesect was already rebuilt. But Kaminko wanted to, in his own words, 'advance the human race', and came up with the idea of a hybrid: part-human, part-Pokémon and part-machine. So, we used parts of Genesect and some cybernetics to restore Touya… we couldn't have done it without the chip in his brain that all Extranormal Operatives have…"

"No fair," Wes said. "I want one! And those cool Pokétch powers, too!"

"Trust me, you don't," Elm said. "Well, if that wasn't enough, we had to make sure Touya would obey only us and the Committee, so we had to block out his consciousness. The project was a success, and Touya became more powerful than we imagined. He single-handedly took down Heatran and together with his Samurott, he took down Darkrai, too."

"_His _Samurott?" Wes wondered. "So does Touko have one, too?"

"That has to be Touya's," Leaf reasoned. "Though I have no idea where she could have gotten it… and where Touya himself is…"

"Originally, we had to keep Touya's presence hidden from Touko," Elm said. "But despite all of Touko's strength, she became depressed over time. We needed her at her best, so it was decided that Touya should come in contact with her again. At first, we had him pretend that he never died and was merely restored through surgery or something. Touko isn't exactly the sharpest bulb in the harbor, so she didn't seem to realize that anything was wrong…"

"But she did anyway," Kris guessed.

"Yes," Elm said sadly. "She did not take it well, but showed surprising restraint. We completely oblivious that she wanted us dead, and eventually smuggled Touya out."

"And she stole the flash drive!" Kaminko shouted. "It contains information that could potentially ruin the world, and it's been surgically attached to someone who couldn't even captain a rowboat…"

"Sounds more like the info could harm _your_ reputation, Kaminko," Silver guessed, not bothering to mask the contempt he felt towards the professor. "The greatest scientist in the world, inventor of the Poké Ball, inspiration to researchers like Oak, Rowan and Hastings… you want to keep up the myth no matter what."

Kaminko wasn't willing to talk to a 'lowly criminal scum' like Silver, so he ignored everything he said. Fernando, who had been quiet the whole time, had his own two cents to add:

"Whoa, whoa, _whoa_!" he yelled. "Time out! Listen, doc," he said, pointing at Elm. "I've been feverishly trying to make sense of your explanation, seeing as I'm quite the scholar myself, and if I know anything about pokémonology - and I do - then, you, my friend, are talking out of your ass."

"What do you mean?" Elm wondered.

"How on earth can you use Genesect's parts on a human?" Fernando wondered. "It's a gigantic bug that lived fifty million years ago or something. Touya is, as I said before, human. What university did you go to, anyway? They. Are. Two. Different. SPECIES!"

Fernando took a deep breath and calmed himself down. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose to shield himself from anymore stupidity.

But Leaf had an answer prepared:

"Not the same species, huh?" she said. "I wouldn't be too sure about that, Fernando."

"…you're kidding," Fernando said. "Tell me you're kidding!"

"I'm not a 100% sure," Leaf admitted. "More like… 62,7% sure, and I need to go over the research once more. Of course, it's gonna be hard to do in this cell, especially since my C-Gear was confiscated…"

"We can argue over this quasi-scientific crap later!" Kris insisted. "Right now, we might as well stick to the plan. Fernando, you still have the Xtransceiver, uh… _in_ you, don't you?"

Fernando sighed. "I didn't want it to come to this, but… yes." He turned to Elm and Kaminko. "So, where's the bathroom?"

Elm pointed at a rusty metal bucket in one corner of the room. Fernando was about to groan in protest, but Kris' unrelenting stare forced him to obey.

"Fine, I'll do it," Fernando said in a subdued tone. "This isn't going to be pretty, though…"

**~o~O~o~**_  
><em>

_**Location: The holds, S.S. Neptune  
>Many hours later…<strong>_

After several attempts that took several hours, Fernando finally got the Xtransceiver out of his body, and was now huddled in a fetal position in the corner. The Xtransceiver itself was on the floor, though Kris was reluctant to touch it.

"Did you wash it?" Kris asked Fernando, unable to hide how suspicious she sounded.

"With what?" Fernando whimpered. "Of course I didn't! Now leave me alone… I need a few days to recover from that…"

"Baby," Kris muttered and rolled her eyes.

Carefully, she picked up the Xtransceiver, attached it to her wrist and made a call to Palmer. Soon enough, Palmer's scarred, orange-eyed face obscured by locks of blonde hair appeared on the screen. He looked like he had just woken up, though he sounded and acted completely focused.

"_Yes_?" Palmer asked impatiently. "_Didn't we agree that _I _should call _you, _not vice versa_?"

"I guess so, but this is important," Kris argued. "We have some bad news."

"_Well, now that you called me, I have something to tell you as well_," Palmer said. "_I just received some additional information about the Neptune: many of its crew used to work Extranormal Operations. Blaine is the current security chief, Touko White is the ship's XO, and-_"

"Yeah, thanks a million for the helpful tip," Kris said while gritting her teeth, "but Blaine already saw us. They imprisoned all six of us and threw us in the same cell with professors Elm and Jerkface here. Got any ideas on how to get out?"

"_You… what? Damn it! How far are you from the Whirl Islands?_"

"Not far," Kris said. "Looks like you were right about the target. And since there's nothing there, they're probably going after Lugia."

"_Indeed…well, since you aren't pressed for time, I can tell you about the rest of the crew. Besides Touko and Blaine, many other former ENO-members are onboard. The ship's communications officer is Celio, a brilliant scientist from the Sevii Islands who had the same job back with you guys. The ship's physician is Ein, a medical scientist from Orre. The ship also has a medic for emergency situations. Her name is Bianca Blanc, whom you also probably know. I'll dig some more to find out about the rest of the crew_."

"Why are they all here?" asked Leaf, who crammed herself close to Kris so she could also talk with Palmer. "And why, _oh why_, didn't you tell us this earlier?"

"_I only found out a few hours ago. As for why they're all there… beats me. Knowing who we're fighting against, it's not likely that we're talking about a coincidence here. I'll do everything I can to_-"

"Hush!" Kris said.

She put her hand on the Xtransceiver's speakers to silence Palmer. She heard muffled noises and footsteps from outside the cell door. Kris quickly turned off the Xtransceiver and passed it to Wes, who hid it in one of his numerous pockets.

At the exact same moment when Wes managed to hide the thingymabob, the door of the cell was opened. The same burly sailor whom greeted the group at the harbor, along with his Poliwrath, looked around the room.

"Listen up, newbies!" the sailor shouted. "The captain wants to see you, but _only_one of your. Which one of you will come?"

All eyes were suddenly on Kris. Not only was she closest to the door, but Palmer had previously told everyone to 'do what Kris said'. Of course, Kris thought that it only applied to situations where Kris wanted it to be so.

"Aw, crap!" she complained. "Aren't leaders supposed to be able to delegate unpleasant duties?"

Either way, Kris got up, walked out of the cell and resigned to her fate. She briefly talked about whipping out her Poké Ball and telling Croc to maul the sailor, but not only was that a terrible idea, but after the battle with Touko's Samurott, Croc probably couldn't even maul a Magikarp.

"Lead the way," Kris sighed to the sailor as the door of the cell was closed.

* * *

><p><strong><em><span>Author's Note<span>s_**: **_Apologies for the delay and the long-ness(?). But, on the plus side, I had that Pokémon battle between Touko and Kris just to make the rest a bit easier to swallow. Dunno if it works or not, but hey, battles are cool! The S.S. Neptune is going to be the setting for the story for some time now, but that doesn't meant there isn't going to be action and traveling all over the place. The next few chapters will be more action-packed (and hopefully shorter), so there's not much time for long monologues and dialogues._**

**_About Touko, aka the female trainer from B/W... I don't know if I should call her 'Hilda' or just 'White', but I've been calling her Touko in my stories for so long that it's hard to make the change. Same thing with Touya. 'Hilbert' just doesn't feel right. But then again it sorta goes against me using English names for other places and people. Argh, the problems I face every day!  
><em>**

**_Also, I think that was the fiftieth time I wrote "Kris rolled her eyes" or something along those lines. I guess that's just her thing, but I realized that it sounds ridiculous when repeated in every chapter._**

**_Anyway, coming up next: _****_Chapter Thirteen - 'Lugia's Attack', where the gang encounters Lugia as well as some Rocket and Plasma Grunts in the caves at the Whirl Islands. Lotsa battles there!_**


	13. Lugia's Attack

**Chapter Thirteen: Lugia's Attack**

_**Location: The bridge, S.S. Neptune, sea around Johto  
>December 11th, 3:50 p.m. <strong>_

The sailor brought Kris back to the familiar bridge, but this time, Kris could have a more thorough look around. Indeed, on one of the computer terminals, there was the technician Celio, the brown-haired, well-dressed bespectacled computer geek. Sitting right next to him was his constant companion, Ein, the medical technician. Ein was silver-haired, wore sunglasses and had fancy, silver-colored clothes. The idea of wearing a uniform seemed to make these two shudder.

Touko and Blaine were standing on both sides of Captain Briney, Touko to his left and Blaine to his right. Briney was looking out of the window with a pair of binoculars. Next to Blaine was the helmsman while the navigator was standing next to Touko, looking into a computer monitor. Johto's coastline was visible in the horizon.

"Here she is!" the sailor announced and saluted when he brought Kris to the bridge.

Wordlessly, Briney passed the binoculars to Touko, turned around and marched to Kris. He nodded to the burly sailor, who saluted again and quickly left the bridge.

Briney started to observe Kris quietly. Despite his age, he was still a big man, and towered over Kris to intimidate her.

"Let's make one thing clear," Briney announced so the whole bridge staff could hear. "I don't like having you and your friends on board. However, we got a direct order from the higher-ups… according to them, you and your friends are experienced in dealing in these kind of situations…"

"I'm not saying anything until _you_ say what the _situation_ is," Kris said defiantly.

Briney squinted, but Kris knew she had upper hand. She could tell it from Briney's tone, and the way he said 'higher-ups'. That meant that _he_ wasn't the one in charge of the operation. And no matter who was, they needed Kris' skills. Oh, and the others too, probably.

"I'll tell you what you _need_to know," Briney clarified and cleared his throat. "In a moment, we'll be arriving to the Whirl Islands. Inside caves that run under these islands is a mythical Pokémon that represents a threat to humanity…"

_Hoo, boy. That old chestnut. He's thinking I'm actually buying that. Well, at least that sleazebag Palmer was right. _

"Lt. Celio!" Briney ordered the wiry technician who was frightened by the way Briney suddenly addressed him. "Put it up on the screen!"

All eyes turned towards the gigantic display monitor above the windows. Celio pressed a few buttons, and soon the image of a white, bird-like Pokémon appeared on the screen.

"This is Lugia," Briney said dramatically.

The Pokémon was enormous, the statistics on the screen indicating that its height was estimated to be between twenty and twenty-five feet. Lugia was mostly pale silver-white and resembled a cross between a huge bird, a dragon and a plesiosaur. Lugia also had a ridged, beak-like mouth, a long, slender neck and humongous, hand-like wings. It had a light blue underbelly and had dark blue, plate-like protrusions sticking from its back.

"Nasty," Kris said appreciatively. "What do we know about it? Type? Capabilities?"

"Well, it's safe to guess that its secondary type is Flying," Celio reported, not expressing any surprise over seeing Kris on the _Neptune's_bride. "But that's all we know. We have estimated its height to be about twenty-three feet and its weight should be close to five hundred pounds, but that info isn't going to help you a lot."

"Either way, _you're_ not going to fight it unless we run out of options," Briney said. "We need to… hold on a second. Helm, report! Talk to me, Dock!"

Dock, the balding and slightly overweight helmsman saluted and turned to his captain.

"If we maintain current speed, we should reach the target in thirty minutes, sir," Dock said. "However, I spotted a large number of smaller ships around the archipelago. About a dozen speedboats and yachts registered to Team Plasma, and three destroyers registered to Team Rocket."

"Friends of yours?" Briney asked Kris.

"They're after Lugia as well?" Kris suggested. "So what's your plan going to be?"

Celio pressed another button. The image of Lugia was replaced with an image of the Whirl Islands. The archipelago consisted of four, rocky, completely deserted islands as well as a large number of dangerous whirlpools swirling around them. Somehow, Team Plasma's and Team Rocket's ships had gotten past the whirlpools, and now many grunts were running around on the surface of the islands.

"What you see here is probably less than 0,1 percent of the Whirl Islands archipelago," Briney said. "Beneath the sea, there is a maze of dark caves that are accessible from the surface. However, Rocket Grunts and Plasma Grunts have fortified the entrances to the caves. They had a bunch of bizarre Pokémon with them. Some types of huge, metallic insects…"

"Gee wiz, captain," Kris said, folded her arms and gave the evil eye to Blaine, whose bald head was glittering with sweat. "Maybe you should ask your security chief for the full story…"

Briney turned in Blaine's direction. Clearly, Blaine had been too ashamed to mention the Genesect, and how Team Plasma managed to make a bunch of clones from it. Briney stared at Blaine, but Blaine remained tight-lipped and pretended not to be listening. Finally, Briney just shrugged.

"Well, either way, it's not our concern," Briney said. "We're going into the caves, but we're not using the cave entrances. Our mission objective is to capture Lugia and make sure the enemy doesn't do it before us. That is all. _You_," Briney said to Kris while pointing at her, "make sure we succeed. It's either that or you'll experience the joy of getting keelhauled."

"Hey, like I said, that's why we came aboard," Kris said and tried to put on her best poker face. "We'll do everything we can."

"We?" Briney asked. "No, no, no. I don't want all six of you running nilly-willy around the Whirl Islands while we're having a situation. You and two others will go. Got it?"

"Okay," Kris said, knowing exactly who to use. "So tell me the plan!"

"We have a group of volunteer Pokémon Rangers traveling with us," Briney explained. "At exactly 4:30 p.m., a squad consisting of twelve Rangers will use a variety of Pokémon, mainly Fearow and Flygon, to launch an aerial attack on the Whirl Islands once we're close enough. They serve as a distraction for the _real_plan. You see, we also have a small submarine on board. It can only carry eight people at a time, but we won't even be needing that many. Me, the sub's driver, a member of the science team and you and your buddies will use the submarine to enter the underwater cave."

"Your plan is to use the Rangers as cannon fodder?" Kris asked. In all honesty, she didn't think was at all a bad plan… for her. For the Rangers, on the other hand…

"They will stay airborne the entire time," Briney assured. "I'm not denying that it will be dangerous… those big damn bugs have some serious firepower. However, the _Neptune _will stay at a safe distance for them to evacuate. We can't use any surface-to-surface missiles or bombard them more powerful dragon-type Pokémon - they might cause the underwater tunnels to collapse."

"All right, what else?" Kris asked.

"Once we're in, we'll use an electronic map to locate Lugia," Briney said. "Shouldn't be too hard, especially if the Rockets or the Plasmas have found it for us. They're probably attempting to capture it for themselves. To do so, they cannot use Poké Balls, as not only is it damn near impossible to catch it with one, but should they succeed, they can only use a limited amount of Lugia's power."

"Are _we_ supposed to catch it alive, then?" Kris asked. She was worried, for sure, but if the plan was to capture it alive just like with Heatran, she still had a chance of stopping it.

"Negative," Briney answered, to Kris' dismay. "The scientist who will accompany us will… do what needs to be done to it, then you step in and terminate it. Either that, or we terminate you."

"Sounds like we're gonna have a fun day," Kris said and smiled. "Is that all?"

"Yes," Briney said, then looked in Blaine's direction.

Blaine saluted nervously. "Sir!" he yelled, his normally raspy voice sounding much squeakier than normal, like a rusty hinge.

"Have the guards pick up…" Briney paused for a moment and turned to Kris. "Who do you want to use?" he asked.

"I think Wes and Shane for this one," Kris said. "They're my boy-toys, after all."

Briney just responded to this with a confused look. Kris sighed wearily.

"Wes is the dude who thinks he's part cowboy, part Han Solo and part Don Juan and Shane is the little pea-brained blonde kid with a Sandshrew," Kris clarified. "And by 'kid', I mean that he's just as old as the rest of us, but you wouldn't believe it by looking at 'im. Got it?"

"Oh, and all this time I thought his name was 'Bane'," Blaine said. "Okay, I think I remember it now."

As Blaine saluted Captain Briney and hastily left the bridge, Touko walked to her captain. Though still standing straight and looking at Briney respectably, Touko looked and sounded uncharacteristically concerned.

"Captain, with all due respect, I still think you should reconsider," Touko pleaded. "Let me go instead. I'm much more expandable, and I don't think it's standard policy for the _captain_ to participate in these kind of missions!"

"Well, these aren't standard times," Briney responded sardonically. "I already told you your job, Commander White: you have the deck until I return. As my XO, you need to take the com when necessary!"

"I… aye aye, sir," Touko said.

"Good," Briney remarked rather unprofessionally before turning to Kris again. "Once your, eh… _friends_ get here, a sailor will take you to the submarine. I will visit the lab and then come down to meet you."

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: The lower deck, S.S. Neptune  
>Fifteen minutes later…<strong>_

Kris, Wes and Shane were escorted to the lower deck and past the cargo holds. They walked down another set of stairs, arriving to the deck even below that one, where the engine room was housed. However, instead of going there, the sailor took the trio to a smaller room located near the bow.

In the room, resting on some sort of hatch and surrounded by maintenance personnel and sailors, was a small, white submarine with a cigar-shaped hull. It wasn't much bigger than a truck, and it could probably hold only eight people at max, like the captain had said - even then, it would be uncomfortably crowded. But how on earth were they going to get the submarine out of the ship?

The sailor guided Kris, Wes and Shane to a metal catwalk located directly above the submarine, giving the trio a full view of the craft.

When the group was imprisoned, their Pokétch's, C-Gears and weapons had been confiscated. Most devastatingly, Kris' case had been taken from her and placed along with the other confiscated items. Kris just had to pray that no one opened it - she couldn't stand to have her precious taken away. At least Kris and Shane both got their Pokétch's back, while Wes also got his two revolvers back in mint condition. His Pokémon were also ready to fight, while Kris had visited the med bay to heal her Feraligatr. She promised that it could rest once everything was done, and was now anticipating a fight inside its Poké Ball.

Shane's Sandshrew was still clinging to its owner. Shane didn't have the heart to point out that Shrew's claws had burrowed into his skin, so he just grit his teeth and waited for Shrew to get over its fears.

Making sure that no one could hear what the trio was talking, Kris quickly told the others the situation.

"Dang," was the only thing Wes could say. "So they're really gonna do it? Kill Lugia?"

"Not if we can help it," Kris said pointedly while making sure her Pokétch still worked. The screen currently showed the time: 4:09 p.m., and everything else seemed to work, too. The Pokémon powers, the radio, the map, the Pokémon status screen…

"Yeah, but…" Shane said, trying to sound brave but failing miserably. "I mean, uh… I'm totally for making sure the Lugia lives, but _how_are we gonna do that? You have some kind of plan ready, huh, Kris? Because I'm not interested in trying to take down that crazy captain."

"He's a 70-year old man," Kris said. "Accompanied by some random pencilneck. I think we can handle them."

"I didn't mean that," Shane said anxiously. "I just don't want to hurt anyone…"

"Well, Shane," Wes said and assumed the 'big brother'-tone again, "there comes a moment in every man's life when he has to beat the crap out of his enemies. To some, like me, it comes about once a week. Did I tell you about the time me and Rui blew up one of Team Snagem's bases?"

"Yes," Kris reminded and hoped that Wes would get the clue from that.

"Yeah, but I think I forgot it already," Shane said and tried to make use of both of his brain cells to remember it. "Could you tell it again?"

"With pleasure," Wes smirked. "It all started, when-"

Wes was quieted when Captain Briney entered the room. He once again had a Wingull hanging on his shoulders and he was accompanied by Dock, as well as a tall, thin scientist with spiky brown hair and horn-rimmed glasses. He carried a big white briefcase with him, somehow dragging it with him despite his nonexistent muscles. The captain, the scientist and Dock walked to the trio, Briney enthusiastically raving about the submarine:

"Submarine Explorer 1," Briney announced. "Brainchild of the same guy who designed our ship, Captain Stern. You'll be the guests of honor on its maiden voyage!"

"Yeah… what?" Kris asked nervously. "Um… you mean, this is the first time it's used in _combat_, right?"

"No," Briney replied with a big smile on his face. "This is the first time it's used _period_."

"Yay," Kris deadpanned.

"Um… question," Wes said and raised his hand. "Don't think I'm questioning the competence of you experienced seadogs or anything, but how're ya gonna get the sub outta here? Don't tell me your plan is to make a big hole in the hull and push it through there… believe me when I say it: there's a big ol' ship in the middle of the Orre desert with a huge hole in its hull!"

"Pfft, sure, that's likely," Shane scoffed. "You're just yanking my chain, Wes!"

"…nah, feel free to yank it yerself," Wes said.

"The mechanism is very simple," Dock explained calmly. "Just think of it as an airlock, or a torpedo tube. Once we're in, a crane will grab the submarine and the hatch it's resting on will open. The crane will put the sub in the airlock, the hatch will be closed. Once everything is set, the airlock will be opened and it will launch the sub from the bottom of the ship like it's an oversized torpedo. We turn on the sub's propellers and open the vent valves while the ship closes the airlock and pumps out the water so it will be ready for our return."

"Does that really work?" Wes wondered. "A big hatch at the bottom of the ship doesn't sound like a very good idea, but… what do I know, right? So you'll be controlling the sub?"

Dock was about to respond when Briney slapped him on the back roughly.

"Of course he will!" Briney chuckled. "Ol' Dock here is the best man for the job. Well, he's the _only_ man who can control it, so we had to relieve him from the helm." Briney sighed as he gazed the Submarine Explorer 1. "Too bad it doesn't have torpedoes of its own or anything," he lamented, "but that Stern designed it for 'peaceful exploration' or something. What a chump!"

"Well, it's not even a real submarine, if you wanna get technical," Dock said defensively. "Submersible is a more accurate term, but-"

"_Attention personnel_," the P.A. system announced. "_Ranger Squad Delta has engaged the enemy. Operation Silversoul commenced."_

Briney checked the time, using a good old-fashioned waterproof wristwatch instead of a Pokétch.

"4:30," he muttered. "That's our signal. Everyone into the submarine!"

Like any good leader, Briney showed example to his troops by grabbing the catwalk's railing and jumping on the submarine below. He manually opened the submarine's hatch and climbed in. Dock quickly followed him, moving with surprising agility. The brown-haired scientist threw his case to Dock then jumped on the submarine himself. Soon both Dock and the scientist were in.

Kris, Wes and Shane just stared, all three being afraid to go first. Apparently realizing what an opportunity it was to show off his courage, Wes took a deep breath and climbed on the catwalk's edge.

"Piece of cake," Wes said cockily. "It's only like a few feet or so…"

And then Wes landed on the submarine's steel surface, whining something about his leg as he landed. He didn't seem to be hurt, though, but still kept grumbling to himself as he climbed inside the submarine through the hatch.

Both Kris and Shane rolled their eyes simultaneously. Shane was finally able to tear Shrew off his skin and hand it over to Kris, who held it in her arms while Shane jumped on the submarine. Kris then threw the frightened armadillo to Shane, who barely managed to catch the critter.

Kris was the last one to go, suppressing the urge to yell "Geronimo!" as she jumped. Once she was safely on top of the sub, she climbed through the hatch and closed it tight as she got in.

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Inside the Submarine Explorer 1**_

After descending down a short ladder, Kris finally saw the submarine.

_Sheesh, what a piece of crap_, was Kris' first thought.

Of course, she wasn't expecting anything luxurious, considering its size and all, but there was even less room inside the sub than she had thought - apparently the engines and other systems took up most of the space.

The little submarine's interiors consisted of one, dimly lit space that already smelled like sweat, what with six people crammed inside. There were three circular windows on both sides of the sub plus one in the front. The passengers' space consisted of two benches beneath the windows on both sides. Between the controls and the passenger seats, there was the periscope, and the controls for the sub were in the bow. At the controls, there was basically just a small window, two seats and a big dashboard where the controls (a steering wheel) were located, along with a bunch of meters, buttons, switches and monitors that Kris didn't understand.

It was impossible to stand in there, so everyone had to be slightly hunched as they assumed their seats. It was also getting more and more difficult to breathe, even though the sub hadn't even submerged yet - either that or Kris was just too nervous to breathe properly. Kris, Shane and Wes sat on the bench (Shrew sitting in Shane's lap) and grabbed the handles on the walls. Dock and the scientist assumed their seats by the controls while Captain Briney sat next to the periscope, which was currently down.

To the sub's credit, the floor and the walls were cleans and the machinery was dustless. Nevertheless, Kris' heart was pounding and the tension was giving her a headache - what if the sub started leaking or something? Sleeping with the Remoraid wasn't a tempting idea, even if Shane sometimes semi-jokingly called Kris a 'poképhile'.

"Let's se… engines…check," Dock muttered while looking at the various monitors and meters on the dashboard and flicking random switches - at least he seemed to know what he was doing. "Life support… check. Electronics… check. Controls… check. Periscope… down. Pressure a-ok. Closing all hull openings… done."

Dock looked at a panel to his left. All the little lights on it turned green. Dock turned around in his chair, giving a thumbs up to Captain Briney, who casually nodded back. Everything seemed professional enough, but Kris wasn't convinced.

"How many submarines… or _submersibles_ have you operated, Dock?" Kris wondered nervously.

"Including this?" Dock asked. "One. But don't worry. I've had plenty of practice with simulators and all that. Plus I loved diving when I was a kid. And I own a Vaporeon. I think I got it."

Kris gulped, took a deep breath and held on to the handles even tighter.

"Try the radio, Cozmo" Briney told the scientist sitting next to Dock.

The brown-haired scientist flipped one of the switches and talked into a mouthpiece.

"Check, check, Explorer to _Neptune_, Explorer to _Neptune_," the scientist said. "Celio, do you hear me? Over."

Soon, Celio's high-strung voice was heard through the speakers, almost as clearly as if he was standing right next to them:

"_Neptune here. We hear you loud and clear. Looks like you're clear to go. Should I start the countdown, captain?_ _Over._"

"Roger that, _Neptune_," Briney grunted. "Over and out."

Briney made sure his captain's hat was securely on his head and nodded to his Wingull, Peeko, who still sat on his shoulders. Peeko nodded too, then jumped away from Briney and used its claws to grab on one of the handles. Briney grinned and looked at Kris, Wes and Shane.

"Better brace yourselves," he said gruffly. "We're about to take off."

The scientist took off his glasses and grabbed the dashboard as if his life depended on it, shutting his eyes tightly. Shrew was holding on to Shane as tightly as it could, its claws being entangled in Shane's clothes.

"Five," Briney counted. "Four… Three… Two… One… Go!"

As the submarine was launched from the torpedo tube, the whole vessel seemed to shake. The pressure was pulling everyone towards the stern of the sub, but everyone held on as tight as they could, gritting their teeth and closing their eyes as they endured the G's. In the midst of the chaos, Dock managed to flip a switch on the dashboard.

As the sub's engine whirred on, it started moving much more smoothly. The vent valves were then opened, and soon the submarine was rapidly but softly making its way towards the underwater caverns. When the bubbles and foam around the submarine finally cleared, the sub's inhabitants were able to see out the windows.

The dark, undersea world was less fascinating than Kris would have imagined, though. Dock had to refrain from using the submarine's headlights to avoid detection by the Rockets and Plasmas, so it had to move by radar. Still, the water around the Whirl Islands was relatively shallow, so the sunlight was able to do most of the job. Kris, Shane and Wes all looked out of a window, amazed by the undersea world.

"Damn," Wes muttered appreciatively when he saw a huge group of Tentacool float by, moving in a cluster of around thirty. "No wonder you keep popping into those jellies every three seconds…"

"Get us a bit closer to surface," Captain Briney ordered Dock. "I want to see what's happening out there."

Dock did as ordered by flicking a few switches. Slowly, the submersible started to ascend, moving closer to the surface… not too close, however, but it was getting less and less dark.

"Up periscope!" Briney ordered.

Briney grabbed the periscope's handles and raised it manually while Dock pressed another button on the dashboard. Briney looked into the periscope's lenses. Kris, feeling slightly less weak-kneed now that the sub was traveling more smoothly, managed to gather herself and stand up.… as well as she could inside this cramped tin-can.

"Mind if I have a look?" she asked the captain.

Though visibly irritated, Briney moved aside and let Kris look through the periscope.

Through the lenses, Kris saw what happened on the surface. The submarine had somehow navigated past the dangerous whirlpools around the islands and were now rapidly approaching one of them. Kris saw movement on the surface of the islands: Plasma Grunts, in their bluish gray, armor-like and hooded uniforms. Apparently they had captured some local Pokémon, as they were commanding a group of Mantine against their enemies. There was also one Genesect among the Plasma Grunts, its purple exoskeleton clearly standing out amidst the grunts.

Above the Plasma Grunts were a bunch of Pokémon Rangers, the Ranger Squad Delta, flying on six Fearow and five Flygon. Their uniforms, while skimpy and uncomfortable-looking, were still apparently designed for practicality. Both the male and the female Rangers had red combat jackets on top of their almost skin-tight black spandex uniforms. They all also wore combat boots and carried around strange-looking devices.

In charge of them was a professional-looking, blue-haired female Ranger who could only be told apart from the others thanks to her red bandanna. Of course, she was obviously in command, based on the way she yelled orders at the other Rangers and how she flew a Dragonite.

The Fearow kept swooping down and getting back up again in an attempt to assault the Plasma Grunts and their Pokémon head-on, while the Flygon gave supporting fire from above. They seemed to use mostly non-lethal attack methods, like Dragonbreath, in hopes of paralyzing their opponents. However, they couldn't do much, seeing as the Genesect commanded by the Plasma Grunts easily kept them all at bay with its powerful cannon.

"You're sure that this is going to work?" Kris asked as she took her eyes off the battle. "They're tough, but so is Ge… that, bug-thing."

Kris wasn't sure why she didn't tell about Genesect. Should she at least mention the fact that it was weak to fire? _Nah, probably not…_

"They know the score," Briney said gruffly. "Stop worrying so much. Besides, they volunteered for this mission. The Ranger Union didn't authorize this, and they don't usually work with us, but these guys were very eager to help. And we were eager to accept it."

"I'm approaching the closest island," Dock announced. "No… hang on… according to radar, this is actually just one big, ginormous island… like a huge rock in the sea. Looks like four parts of the island are visible on the surface, which leads most people to think of them as four separate islands… wonder how that happened."

"They told us about it in Johto history!" Kris said suddenly, though trying not to sound like a geek. "Um, I mean, I _think_it's because Lugia blew up most of the surface with a thunderstorm to divide the islands into four pieces… or something. Then it probably created all these whirlpools… to protect itself."

"Well, now you see why we must stop it!" Briney said self-righteously.

"_Actually_," Kris continued, but made sure not to sound as annoying as Leaf, "it blew up the islands because some humans were-"

But Kris was cut off by Celio's high-pitched, nasally voice coming from the radio, which startled everyone in the sub:

"_Captain! Captain! Commander White needs to talk to you_!"

"Put her on, Celio," Briney said as he grabbed the radio's mouthpiece from the scientist. "What is it, Touko?"

"_Sir, forgive me for troubling you_," Touko said in a manner so smarmy it made Kris want nauseous, "_but the lab has found out something strange about the whirlpools._"

"What about them?"

"_We sent an unmanned probe to get some info on 'em_," Celio informed, "_but the damn thing was sucked into the whirlpool and pulverized before it even got close. They're getting larger, and their estimated speed is around 50 mph!_ _I think it's safe to call them maelstroms now!_"

"_That's why I told the Rangers to return to the ship in thirty minutes_," Touko said. "_I don't want them to get sucked in as well. I… I hope I didn't exceed my authority, sir_…"

"You did, in a number of ways," Briney said coldly. He didn't even need to raise his voice to get his point across. "I told you - the Rangers are expendable. They're supposed to be the distraction for _our_operation, which his the whole point of this mission. But seeing as you gave the order already… fine. Are you expecting us to find Lugia in thirty minutes?"

"_No need to, sir_," Celio said casually, obviously happy that he wasn't the one getting chewed out. "_We have picked up some of Team Plasma's comm chatter. They're talking about how some guy called, uh…'N' has found Lugia already. He gave the grunts directions to the chamber where its in. I'm uploading it to your maps now_."

"Right," Briney grunted.

From the corner of his eye, Briney noticed Kris and Wes giving each other nervous glances.

"If you know anything about this 'N' or these bug-things," Briney said to them, "now's your last chance."

"Nope," Kris said.

"I've got nothing," Wes said and shrugged.

"Huh?" Shane said, taking his eyes off the window. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"Good," Briney said. "You two," he added, pointing at Kris and Shane. "You should have the map of the tunnels in your Pokétches. And you, Billy Bob," he pointed at Wes, who took offense but kept his mouth shut. "You just try to tag along. Think you can do that?"

"Now hold on," Wes objected. "I-"

"Good," Briney interrupted. "There's also a homing device in this submarine, so we added a little compass-like gizmo to your Pokétch maps. The trick is that instead of pointing to the north, the needle always points in the direction of the sub."

"Approaching the tunnels now," Dock informed. "There's a narrow tunnel that should get us in…"

**~o~O~o~**

_**Location: Beneath the Whirl islands, Johto**_

The submarine surfaced from an underground lake located somewhere in the tunnels beneath the islands. Dock stayed on the submarine to keep it fired up in case of a quick getaway, while Kris, Wes, Shane, Captain Briney and the scientist climbed out of the thing. Briney had warned them to keep quiet and use their ears, as evidently the caves were pitch-black inside.

So, as Kris opened the submarine's hatch… she was almost blinded by a bright lamp hanging right next to her.

"MY EYES!"

"Stop your whining, Krissy," Wes cursed. "Keep climbing! I've gotta get out of this tin can!"

It turned out that the whole cave was littered with these lamps, all attached to a cable that ran along the walls. This was definitely one of Team Rocket's techniques - based on what Kris had read, they used similar tricks on Mt. Moon in Kanto many years ago. This time the idea was probably to keep the wild Pokémon in caves, like those pesky Zubat and Golbat, away.

_Well, at least navigation won't be much of a problem…_

Kris, Wes, Shane, Briney and the scientist jumped on the underground lake's shore, grateful for the dry land beneath their feet. The chamber they were currently in had two tunnels leading out of them - one on the right, one on the left. Briney immediately checked his map. He didn't have Peeko with him, as he had left it on the sub, but Kris noticed a full belt of Poké Balls on his waist.

_I need to stop staring at the waists of 70-year old geezers…they might get the wrong idea._

"We're currently in the first floor basement," Briney informed. "Lugia's chamber is one level below us. An underground river and a waterfall passes through its chamber… you'll need a water-type Pokémon."

"Done," Kris said.

She opened her only Poké Ball, and her Feraligatr came out, this time in great shape, albeit slightly pissed off by its earlier loss. Kris couldn't help but to think that Croc was staring at her with that angry face… though she couldn't blame it - yet again she had messed up a battle, and Croc was humiliated in front of everyone. If Croc suddenly started to disobey Kris, the game would be over.

Kris had to turn away from Croc before it filled her mind with more paranoid thoughts. No one else seemed to have noticed a thing, though. Briney nodded appreciatively upon seeing Croc.

"A Feraligatr," he observed. "Good. You'll need one. Both of these tunnels lead to Lugia… we'll take the one on the left: it leads to a crevice which we can use to drop down and get there quickly and undiscovered. You three can take the one on the right, the long road. Go to the end of the tunnel, turn right and head to the next turn, turn right again and find the ladder. Use it to get down to the second floor basement. It's pretty flooded, so from there on you'll have to swim. Take out _all _Plasma Grunts you see. Got it?"

"…no," Shane whimpered. "Can I stay here and help Dock with all those scary buttons?"

Briney ignored Shane's comment. He nodded to the scientist, who nodded back and patted the big silver case he was dragging with him. Briney and the scientist then disappeared to the tunnel on the left.

"Listen to me, Shane," Kris said quickly as soon as Briney was out of earshot. "Don't worry. I'm not gonna let them hurt you. Wes has Ninetales, so he can take point-"

"Gee, thanks," Wes grumbled.

"-I'll back him up with Feraligatr," Kris continued. "You, Shrew and Chansey hang back. When the going gets tough, I want you to get out _as fast as you can_, got it?"

Kris put her hands firmly on Shane's shoulders and shook him up a bit, while constantly looking into his eyes. Shane was visibly going over the whole scenario in his mind. Wes summoned his Ninetales, whose glow further illuminated the cave. He gazed uncomfortably at Kris and Shane and the way they were so… connected. After finally getting what he was supposed to do, he nodded to Kris and summoned Chansey, the group's new combat medic.

"Let's move!" Kris yelled.

Following Briney's instructions, the group run towards the tunnel on the right. It was so narrow that Ninetales had to walk in front, its tails effectively preventing the others from seeing anything. Wes walked behind his fox, followed by Croc, then by Kris, then Chansey, then Shane and finally Shrew, whose stubby legs and lack of willingness to exercise meant it had a hard time keeping up with everyone.

The tunnel seemed to take them deeper and deeper into the cave, as the only thing the group heard were their own footsteps and the sound of the water flowing everywhere. They didn't hear the wind blowing, but the air in the caves had to be circulated somehow, as it was just as fresh as on the surface. No sign of Plasma Grunts, Genesect or even any wild Pokémon as the group turned to the right.

Kris checked her Pokétch - only 19 minutes left. As they ran along the tunnel, she was still going over things in her mind. Wes and Shane probably expected her to have a plan: how to spring Lugia free without Briney and the scientist noticing? Why was the scientist even there? Perhaps it would be better if they _did_ run into Plasma Grunts… it would create a nice distraction at least.

"The ladder!" Wes shouted suddenly. "I see the ladder!"

The tunnel was getting wider, and the group could now see what was in front of them: a big, man-made hole in the ground and a ladder leading 'downstairs'. The flow and crashing of the underwater river was now clearly audible as it echoed in the tunnel.

"We're almost there!" Wes cheered the others on. "I can hear the w-"

What Wes was about to say next was drowned by the sound of an explosion: a silver-colored beam of energy was fired from the hole in the ground, hitting the cave's ceiling, causing huge chunks of rock to fall on the group. They all leaped out of the way, but were distracted long enough for a Genesect and two Plasma Grunts to appear out of the hole.

"We found them!" the other Grunt yelled into his walkie-talkie. "Don't worry, your highness! We'll hold them off!"

_So N was 'his highness' now? Talk about delusional…_

"Ninetales, Flamethrower!" Wes yelled the instant he saw the Genesect.

Ninetales fired its flamethrower at the Genesect, but the bug was faster, quickly leaping out of the way. The Plasma Grunts quickly inserted some sort of cassette to the Genesect's cannon, and the light at the cannon suddenly glowed blue.

"Techno Blast!" the other Grunt ordered.

Genesect fired another energy beam, but this time the whole beam was blue. Ninetales dodged, but the Genesect's attack sweeped the whole tunnel, and it was too narrow for Ninetales to hide. As the beam hit Ninetales, it was instantly knocked out.

"Switch!" Kris yelled.

Wes nodded, and instead of recalling Ninetales, he quickly started dragging the fox Pokémon away while Kris and Croc stepped to face Genesect. Croc fired a Hydro Pump at the Genesect, hitting it in its ugly face and sending it flying against the cave's rocky wall.

But the Genesect wasn't knocked out, and the Plasma Grunts quickly scuttled towards it, ejecting the previous cassette and quickly inserting another, a yellow one before Croc could launch a counter-attack.

"Croc, Hydro Cannon!" Kris yelled.

"Genesect, Techno Blast!" the Plasma Grunt ordered.

Croc didn't even have time to charge its attack, as Genesect fired an umpteenth beam of energy at it - this time the color of the beam was yellow, and as it almost exploded upon impact with Kris' Feraligatr, sparks flying everywhere.

This gave Kris an idea. As Croc struggled to maintain its balance, Kris looked behind her, seeing Shane's Chansey treating Wes' Ninetales back to health and Shane looking clueless on the background.

Kris ran closer to her Feraligatr and quickly pulled its head down so Kris could whisper into its ear:

"Croc… I know you don't like this, but… you're gonna have to throw this one. You need to let it knock you out… trust me!"

"Are you ready to give up yet?" yelled the other Plasma Grunts, arms folded across his chest and a smug grin on his face. "Throw whatever you want at us, it won't work. N ordered us to keep you out of his way… and it seems we've done that."

"Yeah, but _Giovanni_ ordered us to kill those guys," argued the other Plasma Grunt. "He said explicitly: the scrawny girl, the scrawny guy and the Firefly-cosplayer… I think we got'em! Just waste 'em so N can catch the Lugia!"

"_He's_ not our boss, Giovanni is!" the first Grunt argued back, while Genesect just stood there motionlessly, waiting for its orders. "N is! And we're here to set it free, not catch it!"

Kris took advantage of this pointless arguing and ran to Shane, who was just watching as Chansey healed the Ninetales, while Wes was looking at the Poké Balls on his belt and trying to decide what to use next.

"Shane," Kris whispered sharply, snapping Shane to his senses. "We need Shrew. Those cassette-thingies… you know…"

Shane just blinked and stared at Kris in confusion while processing what Kris had said. The two Plasma Grunts continued their arguing.

"…and I don't care what you allegedly told my mom last night!" the other Grunt said. "She's dead, so that doesn't work on me!"

"Yeah, no wonder she was a bit quieter than usual last night…"

"Oh, you did _not_ just say that!"

Finally, Shane came up with an answer:

"I don't," he said, then looked at his Sandshrew, who had been watching the fight while hiding behind Shane's leg. "Did you get it?" Shane asked the yellow critter.

Panicked, Shrew looked at Shane, then at Kris, who nodded her head in the Plasma Grunts' direction, seeing them still arguing over nothing. Shrew gulped and visibly shuddered at the thought of taking on these two humans who were colossal compared to it, but managed to give a nod to Kris.

"Thanks! You can do it, Shrew!" Kris cheered. "Croc!" she ordered her Feraligatr, who was barely standing and down to its last ounce of strength after the Genesect's attack. "Charge!"

If it wasn't for the sheer amount of chutzpah that Kris had in her voice when she yelled that, Croc would have disobeyed. But now, the lumbering Feraligatr charged towards the sleek, menacing Genesect, its claws extended and ready to fight. The Plasma Grunts, distracted, stopped their argument and quickly ordered Genesect to use X-Scissor.

Meanwhile, Shrew used the opportunity to run towards the Plasma Grunts, using the rocks that fell from the ceiling as its cover, moving faster than either Shane or Kris had ever seen it move before, all the while staying undetected by the Plasmas.

Predictably, Croc was knocked out by the force of Genesect's attack, so Kris quickly recalled it, and nodded at Wes. He ordered his Ninetales to advance, and though still feeling woozy after Genesect's attack, the fox Pokémon got enough boost from Chansey to get on its feet and charge towards the Genesect.

"Change the Drive!" the other Grunt yelled the moment he saw Ninetales getting on its feet.

"Yeah, I…" The second Grunt stopped mid-sentence when he noticed the case containing the cassettes was no longer in his pocket. "What the-"

Both Plasma Grunts turned to see Shrew holding the cassette case directly above the hole in the ground. They both yelled at it, but Shrew held its ground and threw the Drives into the underground river.

"Flamethrower!" Wes ordered.

Genesect tried to defend itself futilely using X-Scissor, but while the attack hit Ninetales, it barely even did any damage. Ninetales' flamethrower, on the other hand, roasted the Genesect and charred its purple skin, instantly knocking it out.

The Plasma Grunts had a split second to run away, but failed as Kris aimed her Pokétch at them. She launched a Hydro Pump at the grunts, and though not even one tenth as powerful as if a Feraligatr had used it, the stream of water was still enough to knock the Plasma Grunts unconscious.

"It's times like these that make me actually happy to have a chunk of metal in my brain," Kris said and admired her Pokétch. "I don't know how it works and I don't wanna know."

But while looking at the wristwatch, Kris noticed they only had eleven minutes left. If one Genesect was this tough, what the hell were they going to do if a dozen of them suddenly popped in?

"All right, thank you!" Kris said to Shrew, who quickly ran back to its owner and jumped on his lap, though this time it looked happy rather than frightened out of its mind. "Both of you!" she said and smiled to Shane, even if his input had been nonexistent. "You better go! Take Shrew and Chansey with you and get back to the sub. We'll be there in no time!"

"But," Shane said. "I don't…"

"I know, you don't wanna leave us," Wes said. "But as awesome as we are, I gotta agree with Krissy. This ain't your place."

"No, I'm totally with you there," Shane said. "I can't wait to get out of here. I just don't know _how_!"

"Oh…"

Kris sighed in annoyance. _Why now?_

"Look at that little arrow on your Pokétch screen," Kris said, enunciating clearly. "Head to the direction where the arrow points. AND HURRY! Or I'll swear to Arceus, I'll… eat your PokéBlocks when we get back!"

Horrified, Shane quickly recalled Chansey and ran away, back into the tunnels. Wes gave Kris a thumbs up, and the two of them continued deeper into the cave, climbing down the ladder and entering the second floor basement.

It was only there when Kris and Wes remembered that to get to Lugia's chamber, they had to cross the underwater river. But now that Croc had been knocked out…

"Wes…" she said and desperately hoped that Wes had an alternate solution ready. "I think we have to swim…"

The current in the underground river was fast and dangerous, and there was a small waterfall only about twelve yards away from them, with lots of jagged rocks at its bottom. Then it was only a short swim of about eight or nine yards and they could reach the entrance to Lugia's chamber.

"You stay here," Kris said to a somewhat dazed Wes.

"…huh?" was the only thing Wes could reply.

"You still have Pokémon left," Kris reasoned. "If any of those Plasma Grunts try to come down this ladder… y'know, don't let them. I'm going to swim and get to Lugia's chamber. Once that's done, I'll… think of something."

"I, uh…" Wes was nervous - should he heroically offer to do it himself or would that hurt Kris' pride, what a dilemma. "Are you… sure?"

"No," Kris said and looked at the current. She quickly took off her denim jacket and gave it to Wes. "Hold on to that. I want _something_ dry on me when I get back. This is going to be cold."

"…be careful," Wes muttered and carefully took the jacket from Kris.

Kris took a deep breath, and didn't even look back as she jumped into the river, ignoring how her brain tried to reason with her. The moment she hit the water, she felt her clothes getting heavier and dragging her towards the bottom. Her lips trembled as she struggled to move in the freezing water… only to find out that the current was doing that for her.

Kris tried to scream out as the current dragged her towards the waterfall, but only got her mouth full of water and was reduced to coughing and desperately struggling to stay on the surface. She could faintly hear Wes yelling out her name, but the cold water made her brains freeze and unable to process anything.

For a few seconds, Kris desperately tried to swim back towards shore, but the current was too strong. She crashed down with the waterfall and hit the shallow water at the bottom, feeling her consciousness fading as her head hit the bottom of the river.

It was only for a few seconds, though. Soon Kris found herself back on land, right in front of the entrance to Lugia's chamber. Soaking wet, shivering all over, breathing heavily and with a splitting pain on the back of her head… but she was still alive. Somehow, she gathered the strength to get up on her feet and look around her.

Kris' ears were ringing and the crashing of the waterfall was too loud, so she couldn't hear Wes anymore. Hoping that even he wouldn't be stupid enough to try and follow her, Kris stumbled into Lugia's cave.

_Ho-lee motherlover!_

There it was: Lugia. The colossal white bird felt even more overwhelming in nature - compared to it, Kris felt nothing more like a cockroach. It was just like in the picture she had been shown - however, its dragon-like tail and humongous, hand-shaped wings were tied into the ground with strong ropes. There was even a steel chain tied around its beak-like mouth. Did Briney and the scientist do this? Or Team Plasma?

Lugia's was swimming in shallow water, and more and more kept pouring in through cracks in the wall. Guardian of the waters or not, even Lugia would drown if the cave would collapse and get filled with water.

Lugia itself was struggling against its restraints, trying to break free from its ropes and emitting a loud, ungodly roar. It didn't even notice Kris, who ran to the closest rope - though it was more like a chain, made from hard material that resembled steel. Desperately, Kris grabbed a sharp rock from the ground and tried to break the chain by hitting the rock against it - but even she knew that it was futile.

_There has to be something I can… hold on…_

The chain she was trying to break was the one attached to a muzzle around Lugia's mouth that kept it from using its attacks. And the muzzle was not made out of steel. Kris looked at the sharp rock in her hand, then at the constantly struggling and helpless Lugia…

_Nah, it couldn't possibly work. _

But then again, what did she have to lose? Kris was no athlete, especially now that she was soaking wet and about to freeze to death… and yet, there was no other way. She threw the jagged rock at Lugia's mouth, hoping it would understand her intention and hoping even more that the rock would _hit_.

And it did.

Lugia could finally open its mouth as the muzzle broke. It wasted no time, it seemed, as blue energy started to form in its mouth. Fearing that it would try to blast her into tiny bits, Kris hid behind a rock.

At the same time, Captain Briney and the scientist stumbled into the chamber using an entrance on the other side. Their clothes were torn and wet and they had bruises and cuts all over them - looks like they ran into a Genesect, too. Kris decided to stay out of sight, but eavesdropped on their conversation.

"Where did those tweens go!" Briney yelled at the pencil-necked scientist, who cowered in front of the captain. "Have you tried the radio?"

"It won't work in here!" the scientist whined. "Do you think Team Plasma got 'em?"

"Ah, screw it!" Briney groaned. "Pump it full of Toxicroak venom so you can do your thing and we can get outta here! What are you staring at?"

"C-captain…" the scientist stuttered. "Um… are you sure you fastened the ropes properly?"

"Of course I'm sure!"

"T-then h-how can it, um… open its m-mouth?"

"What?"

Those words would be their last. Kris couldn't bring herself to watch, as Lugia opened its mouth and fired a destructive blue beam of energy towards the captain and the scientist. Though the beam didn't hit either of them, it instead hit the walls and the ceiling around them, causing a pile of boulders to bury and crush both of them.

Lugia then opened its mouth for a second time and cut off all its ropes with an Aeroblast. Once it was done, it spread its enormous wings so it almost filled the whole room. Stretching its long neck, Lugia looked up at the ceiling and fired a third Aeroblast, this one blowing a huge hole through the ceiling. Ignoring the falling rubble, Lugia folded the blue plates on its back and rose to the sky.

When Kris finally could come out from her hiding place, she looked through the crack in the ceiling. Lugia was now just a white dot in the distance, and both Team Plasma and the Pokémon Rangers had to notice it.

_I did it… I'm cold, wet, hurt and miserable… but I won_!

There was no time to celebrate, however. The whole cave was still shaking, even if the battle between the Plasma Grunts and the Rangers above had ceased. Rubble and dust were falling from the ceiling while the cave was slowly being filled with water - Kris was already ankle-deep.

Ignoring the bodies of Briney and the scientist under the piles of rocks, Kris quickly fled from the chamber and arrived to the waterfall cave. Now her only dilemma was how to get _up_ the waterfall, especially since Croc was in no shape to do it… especially since Kris hadn't ever _taught_ it Waterfall, since she was sick when they taught the difference between physical and special moves in school.

"Better hur-ry~," a voice taunted Kris, "or you'll end up like the good captain!"

Kris anxiously looked around her until she saw the source of the voice: N.

N was a rather ridiculous sight now. In contrast to Kris, whose hair and clothes were dripping bucketloads of water on the ground, N was dry, and somehow kept his coolness and composure while standing on a rock in the middle of the river. Still, it was impressive to see his tall figure just staring at Kris, smiling, with his long, tea green hair swaying in the wind that was now blowing through the numerous cracks in the cave's walls. The imminent danger didn't seem to bother him.

"So you're the one," N chimed. "I didn't expect you to make it this far… and I have to hand it to you - the way you got rid of the captain and the scientist was effective… albeit a bit too brutal for my tastes."

"What?" Kris asked - this _really_wasn't a good time for irritating, feminine men to be making fun of her - she got enough of that from Shane. "I didn't-"

"Could you be…. Kris?" N asked, still smiling at her, his grayish blue eyes locked at her - he didn't even seem to blink. "Gio told me that you were strong, but I certainly wasn't expecting this. And you're much more beautiful than he described."

Kris had to pause when she heard that. Never mind that she normally didn't get this phrase from men, but she was currently soaking wet and shivering while her nose was running disgustingly. _Either that was a very cruel joke or that N hadn't seen much women in his life_, Kris figured. _Most likely both_.

"But… I wonder," N mused, mostly to himself, though still staring at Kris. "Gio _also_ said that you and the rest of the scum from Extranormal Operations would come here to try and capture, if not outright kill Lugia. Naturally, I came to assist it… in a way, its almost like my brother."

_Wacko_.

"Great story, dude," Kris shivered and desperately wanted her jacket back. "S-so… what now? In case you haven't noticed, this place is falling apart…"

"Why did you free Lugia like that?" N wondered. "Especially considering how you and your friends previously decimated our home and killed many of my friends. Do you know how many Pokémon died when the skybase crashed? Or how many of our my brothers and sisters of Team Plasma were injured?"

"Better question is, do I care?" Kris growled. "Look, we can talk about this later! Well, okay, I really don't want to, but neither of us really win if we die when this place crashes down on us!"

N laughed - not in a mocking way, either. It was cheerful, joyous laughter, like a little kid who had just become the owner of a toy store or something.

"Don't be silly, Kris," N said. "I'm not going to die here. I don't know about you, but in my case… it's destiny. I am going to do great things. The things Ghetsis dreamed of… before you killed him."

"I haven't killed anybody!" Kris fumed.

"Liar!" N retaliated childishly. "Gio told me all about it. It makes no difference to me whether you were merely 'following orders' or not!"

_Who the hell…?_

"Giovanni?" Kris asked. "_He_ told you this? And you really trust _him_? Have you been living in a barrel your whole life? Wait, don't answer that…"

_Great, for once I'd really need Wes to be around and he's nowhere to be seen… if he just saved his own ass to leave me here, I'm coming back as a zombie just to spite him_!

"So… was Ghetsis your father?" Kris asked.

This really wasn't the time for small-talk, but Kris' only hope was that she could distract N long enough for Wes to magically appear from somewhere and take him out.

"No… I'm… sure of it," N said, but the tone of his voice said otherwise. "I was raised by Pokémon. That's what he himself told me. After _you_killed him, it was Gio who took me in. He's helping us to reach our goal. Don't take me for an idiot, Kris - neither Ghetsis nor Giovanni are saints, and they would gladly admit it. But when you're fighting the enemies we fight, you cannot afford to be picky."

_Ah, screw it, I can take him_.

Kris fired an Ice Beam from her Pokétch in N's direction, expecting to turn him into an ice statue in no time.

But N leaped out of the way, the freezing beam bouncing off the rock instead. Now, N stood on a different rock, where he stood on one foot, as if to mock Kris. He continued talking as if Kris hadn't even attacked him.

"I am not like you," N said. "I will not resort to murder to get my revenge."

"Are EVERYONE here freaking Olympic gymnasts or something!" Kris screamed.

"I appreciate your help with Lugia," N said, "but I can't let you and your friends interfere with our plans."

Kris fired another Ice Beam, but N casually jumped out of the way and landed back on the rock he stood on previously. What the frak was this guy?

"Separate worlds for humans and Pokémon!" N proclaimed triumphantly. "Our friends do not have to suffer in the hands of us, the rogue species, ever again! Once that is done, we can destroy your leaders, this so-called Committee, and liberate the entire world from their stranglehold!"

"What do you mean 'bosses'?" Kris asked and lowered her Pokétch, taken off guard.

"I must admit that you _are_brave, Kris," N continued, sounding like he had been rehearsing this speech for months. "If only you would open your eyes… oh, well."

Getting no answer to her questions and getting more and more agitated by N's mannerisms and the slowly collapsing cave, Kris quickly raised her Pokétch again and tried to fire - but pointlessly. N dodged out of the way and climbed up the waterfall somehow, using stalagmites and crevices in the wall as footholds, eventually jumping on the upper level.

_Oh, so it's _that_ easy_…

Since there was no other way out, Kris tried to imitate N. She jumped from rock to rock, slowly, trying to maintain her balance, eventually getting to the waterfall. There were lots of footholds and things to grab from on the wall right next to the waterfall, so Kris started to climb up the wall.

Finally, Kris pulled herself up on the ledge and collapsed on her knees in exhaustion… only to be pulled up on her feet again by N.

His eerily pale face was only inches away from Kris', and he still continued smiling as he spoke:

"But I can't let you just get away with what you've done," N said. "It pains me to do this… and I'm sorry."

"D-do what?" Kris asked.

N just smiled and dropped Kris on the ground again. He turned around, and Kris thought he was going to walk away…

…but instead, N turned back to face Kris and kicked her in the stomach. Taken by surprise, Kris was sent flying through the air, off the ledge and back towards the bottom of the pit.

Mid-air, Kris instinctively tried to make it so her arms would soften the blow - only to painfully land on them. A wave of pain crashed over her as she heard sickening crunches from both of her arms. Her right shoulder was dislocated and started to stick in a bizarre position. Her left arm merely got several fractures as her elbow had hit the ground. Kris was forced to lay on her back helplessly, unable to move her arms without feeling a nauseating surge of pain.

The fall impact had made Kris scream, but she quickly closed her mouth and gritted her teeth - she wouldn't give N the satisfaction. She briefly opened her eyes, seeing N through a blur of pain, watching at her from above. Surprisingly, N wasn't smiling anymore, he was just looking around helplessly, like a kid who had done something bad and didn't know how to make up for it. Giving one last glance in Kris' direction, N eventually just turned tail and ran.

Kris was just there, on her back, with two broken arms. The fall had knocked the air out of her lungs, so she could only gasp for air for a short while. When she finally got her breath back, she still couldn't scream for help. And who to scream at, anyway?

_Wes and Shane are probably on their way back to the ship by now_…

Kris tried to turn on her side, but even the slightly moving her arm made her entire body ache. She tried moving her fingers and succeeded - at least they still worked. The most painful parts were above the elbow. Kris tried to touch the button on Croc's Poké Ball with her fingertips, but just couldn't bend her arm enough, causing Kris to close her eyes tight and swear:

"Son of a… c'mon… cking… crap!"

"You called?"

Kris opened her eyes. Wes was standing directly above her, his face red and his clothes and hair just as wet as Kris'.

"W…wes?" Kris stuttered. "Did… did I just die and go to hell? 'Cuz if I did, this is a severe disappointment. Much colder than I thought!"

"Nah, you ain't go nowhere yet," Wes said and smirked. "Besides, I needed to give this back!"

Wes was dangling Kris' familiar blue, extremely worn denim jacket above her. _Well now I know I'm not dead_. Surprisingly enough, Wes had managed to keep it dry.

"What happened?" Wes asked and stopped smiling when he saw Kris' anguished expression. "You look like the entire Pacific Ocean just crashed on you…"

"N happened," Kris grunted. "Help me up. I think… ow! I think he broke my arms…"

"That metrosexual guy?" Wes wondered. "Charlie Cheekbone? The Bishie King? Seriously? Why didn't you just slap him on the cheek and make him cry or something?"

But seeing Kris grimacing instead of coming up with a snappy response, Wes was legitimately concerned and carefully helped Kris up. He grabbed Kris by the sides, trying not to make it look like he was feeling her up. Trying to avoid touching her arms by any means necessary, Wes pulled Kris on her feet and wrapped the jacket around her, ignoring Kris' constant "Ow! Ow! Ow!"-whining.

T-thanks," Kris sniffed and tried to hide the fact that her face was stained by tears.

Wes, of course, responded with usual insensitivity.

"Are you… crying?" Wes asked, sounding legitimately surprised. "_You_?"

"No!" Kris countered and dried her eyes. "It's humid in here…"

At precisely that moment, a crack in the wall grew bigger, and water started flowing into the cave from everywhere: the ceiling, both sides of the wall…

"Tell me about it," Wes muttered. "How are we gonna get out of here?"

"How did you get _in _here?" Kris wondered.

"I tried to see if there were other ways into Lugia's chamber," Wes said. "But I ran into a huge bunch of Plasma Grunts. Didn't have to fight 'em, though… weird thing, they all seemed to be in a terrible rush… next thing I know, I see Lugia busting out of the cave… the explosion it caused knocked me out cold for a while."

"How did you… argh!" Kris had to bite her lip not to scream when her arms ached like hell, prompting another concerned look from Wes. "How did you survive?"

"That's the weird part!" Wes said. "That N guy got me on my feet and told me where you were. I turn around and _whoosh_! The guy's gone! He's a frickin' ghost, I tell ya!"

Odd… but that didn't change things at all. Kris entertained herself with a scenario where she made N swallow that ridiculous cap of his the next time they met.

"My question still kinda stands," Wes said. "How do we get out? This plane's gonna be flooded…"

"Unless you wanna risk swimming, there's only one way," Kris groaned and tried to ignore the pain. "You can climb up the wall there… and then come out the way we came… that's how N got out… plus he had some mad acrobat skills…"

Wes looked at the waterfall, then at Kris, who didn't know how to be to avoid being in more pain, her arms hurting whenever she moved even a little.

"No way!" Wes protested when he realized what Kris meant. "I ain't leaving you here! The only way I'm climbing up there is if I can carry you on my back!"

Kris and Wes looked around the cave, but that was indeed the only way out, aside from trying to swim to the surface. Of course, it was more likely that you'd get caught in a current and be thrown around by it until you drowned. And Kris wouldn't be able to swim, anyway.

Wes looked at the river they were standing next to. He seemed to be concentrating on something, which prompted Kris to look as well. There were lots of bubbles on the water's surface… as well as large, constantly growing underwater shadow… as if something was coming up…

Wes stepped in front of Kris and spread his arms in front of her, but instead of a rabid sea Pokémon, the duo was greeted by the Submarine Explorer 1 emerging from the underground river. Through the window, they could see Shrew and Chansey waving at them, while Shane popped out from the hatch on top.

"Hurry!" Shane yelled. "Get in!"

Kris and Wes wasted no time wondering how the hell did the sub find them. They ran to the sub, and when Kris was unable to climb on her own, Shane seemed to get the idea. Wes pusher her legs while Shane and Dock pulled her by grabbing her waist. Kris tried to avoid howling in pain as she was dragged into the sub, knowing that it was rather that or slow death by drowning. After Kris was safely on board, Wes climbed into the sub and closed the hatch.

With everything ready, Dock rushed to the controls and made the Explorer submerge. The collapsing cave was soon left behind them as Dock navigated the submarine through the flooded tunnels beneath the Whirl Islands. Finally, just as the whole tunnel seemed to start collapsing, the submarine got out to the open sea, heading back towards the ship.

As soon as they were safe, Dock turned around to look at the others.

"What about the captain and the scientist?" he asked. "Did they return to the ship with the Rangers?"

"No," Kris informed coldly. "They're dead."

Surprisingly, Dock reaction was rather minimal. He just raised his eyebrows a bit and made an 'oh' face, having probably expected this to happen. He turned back to the controls and navigated the submarine past some coral reefs.

"What about Lugia?" Dock asked without taking his eyes off the controls.

"It got away," Kris said apathetically.

She tried to make it sound like it was a failed mission. But as Dock couldn't see them, Kris, Wes and Shane couldn't help but to smile. Shane was even about to give Kris an encouraging nudge in the arm before Wes stopped him.

"Oh, right, sorry," Shane said. "Don't worry, though. We'll call ahead, tell the doctor to get ready… oh, by the way, Dock," Shane said, getting trailed off, since he couldn't focus on two things at once. "Since Briney's fish food, who's gonna be the new captain?"

"The next in the chain of command, of course," Dock replied.

"The next in the… aw, no!" Kris groaned, this announcement hurting her more than the arm fractures. "You don't mean-"

* * *

><p><em><strong><span>Author's Notes<span>****: So, okay, this turned out to be longer than I thought, but I had to make sure the submarine scene would be at least a little authentic. That and I got carried away with N's stupid (yet plot-relevant!) speeches and the battle against the Genesect. I still think this chapter is one of my favorites even though it doesn't have much witty and funny dialogue and the ending was a bit rushed. **_

_**Also, HUMONGOUS thanks to Jaxin who made great fan art to my earlier story, "Loser's Log". Though unrelated to this story, it features two of the same characters (Kris and Shane that is). Here's the link (remove the spaces of course): http: deviantart .com/art/ Two-Weirdos-269376043**_

_**And also thanks to Alternate Lopunnu, drewbie, Rogue Krayt Dragon and Kokinatsuyosa no Kage for the great reviews that really keep me going. Additional thanks to drewbie for pointing out a couple of rather glaring errors for me. "Narrow water"? "One feet"? *facepalm*  
><strong>_

**_Coming up next: Chapter Fourteen - 'Genetic Destiny', in which the gang encounters Giovanni and his Mooks on Faraway Island and action ensues. (I swear that it won't be 12 000 words long, but I guess that it doesn't matter if no one is bothered by the long chapters)_**


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